Israel opens intelligence base in Somaliland as Somalia warns over Israeli military presence

HARGEISA (Somaliguardian) – Israel has established an intelligence base in Somaliland and is engaged in discussions with authorities in the breakaway region over the possible establishment of an Israeli military base, investigative outlet Drop Site reported on Saturday, citing regional officials, a development that comes days after Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud warned that Israel’s recognition of Somaliland was a “trap” and that a “big problem” was coming to Somalia, the signs of which he said were already becoming visible.

According to the report, the proposed military presence would give Israel a strategic foothold near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that is often compared in strategic importance to the Strait of Hormuz.

Drop Site reported that discussions between Hargeisa and Tel Aviv remain ongoing and centre on establishing a broader Israeli military presence in Somaliland, a territory whose strategic location has increasingly attracted regional and international attention.

According to the report, Israel’s plans are aimed at containing threats posed by Yemen’s Houthi movement, which has already closed the Red Sea to Israeli-linked shipping and repeatedly threatened to shut down the Bab al-Mandeb Strait entirely during periods of heightened Middle East conflict. Houthis repeatedly warned that if attacks on Iran and Lebanon were not halted, the group could move to close the waterway altogether.

Some analysts have pointed to Berbera International Airport as a possible location for an expanded Israeli presence as part of what they describe as an emerging alignment involving Somaliland, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

The UAE has maintained agreements relating to military infrastructure in Berbera since 2017, arrangements that were previously linked to Emirati operations during Yemen’s civil war.

Earlier this year, Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh criticised the UAE’s role in the region, describing it as “Israel’s vanguard” and saying its intentions in the Horn of Africa were “anything but peaceful”.

In an interview aired on Friday, President Mohamud said Israel had approached Somalia’s federal government on several occasions seeking to establish diplomatic relations, but that Mogadishu declined those overtures.

“Israel found itself facing mounting security risks amid regional conflicts and sought ways to mitigate them,” Mohamud said. “It viewed a part of Somalia as potentially relevant to addressing some of those concerns and subsequently approached the Somali government.”

“We told them that we harboured no animosity toward them, but that we had no relations with them and that the time was not right to establish such relations. We said, ‘Let us wait until that time comes,’ and the discussions ended there.”

Mohamud said Somalia’s position on Israel was shaped by a combination of religious, ideological and humanitarian considerations.

“Our opposition to Israel is rooted in several ideological considerations. Some are based on religious convictions and fundamental principles of faith, while others arise from humanitarian concerns and issues related to human rights,” he said.

The Somali president said Israel subsequently concluded that Somaliland’s leadership would be more willing to provide the cooperation it was seeking and therefore shifted its attention toward the territory.

According to Mohamud, the move was driven by Israeli security interests rather than support for Somaliland’s decades-long campaign for international recognition.

“That is how the recognition came about,” he said.

“Somaliland did not secure recognition and will not secure recognition; what it received was not recognition at all, but a trap laid by Israel.”

Israel became the first United Nations member state to recognise Somaliland last year. Both sides subsequently appointed ambassadors, while Somaliland announced last month that it would establish an embassy in Jerusalem. Israel has also indicated plans to open an embassy in Somaliland.

The moves drew criticism across parts of the Muslim world and prompted condemnation from 19 Muslim-majority countries, while Somalia’s federal government protested Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and the appointment of an ambassador to the territory.

Mogadishu has warned that any Israeli military presence in Somaliland could draw Somalia into a conflict that is not its own and not in its national interest, arguing that the consequences could extend beyond Somalia and affect wider regional stability.

Despite those concerns, closer ties with Israel have been welcomed by many figures within Somaliland’s political establishment, who view the relationship as a potential pathway toward deeper international engagement and broader diplomatic recognition.

The policy has nevertheless generated debate within Somaliland itself. A number of politicians, including former Somaliland President Muse Bihi, have strongly opposed aspects of the current administration’s approach under President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi Irro, including efforts to seek recognition from Israel and pursue deeper engagement with Tel Aviv.

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