Somalia’s president slams Israel as an ‘evil’, war-mongering state

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has strongly condemned Israel and urged Somalis to reject any normalization of relations with the country, using a July 1 Independence Day address to criticize Somaliland’s efforts to deepen ties with Israel and its alleged willingness to allow an Israeli presence in its territory.

Video of the president’s remarks circulated widely on social media over the weekend, drawing both praise and criticism for the language he used and the message it conveyed.

Speaking during the Independence Day ceremony, Mohamud argued that welcoming Israel was incompatible with Somalia’s long-held position and framed any move toward engagement as both a national and religious failing.

“Welcoming Israel is a disgrace. It reflects a lack of faith. We have nowhere else to go, so we share this disgrace with you,” the president said.

Mohamud said Somalia and Israel had never established relations during the 66 years since Somalia became an independent state, arguing that the reasons for that policy remained unchanged.

“We knew there was a country called Israel, and we knew it caused a great deal of trouble, but we never had any interaction with it. The reason we had no interaction still exists. Can that history simply erase itself overnight? History cannot erase itself in a single morning,” he said.

The president went on to say that Somalis had historically viewed Israel with suspicion and urged against normalizing relations, describing Israel and its people in sharply negative terms.

“These people are bad people; they are not good people. From generation to generation, from our ancestors to the present, we have remained wary of them. Do not normalize relations with them or pave the way for them to reach us,” he said.

Addressing Somaliland’s relations with Israel, Mohamud argued that Israel had not brought peace wherever it had become involved and accused it of oppression and violence against Muslims.

“Wherever it goes, it follows Muslims. Wherever it has gone, it has gone to oppress or kill Muslims. Otherwise, it does not go anywhere; it only troubles its neighbors, kills them, and annihilates people,” the president said.

The speech quickly became a subject of debate.

Supporters described the president’s remarks as a forceful defense of Somalia’s territorial integrity and a demonstration of solidarity with Muslims. They argued that Mohamud had taken an unusually outspoken position despite his government’s longstanding reliance on political, financial and security support from Western partners.

Critics, however, said the language used by the president departed from diplomatic norms and included sweeping denunciations of Israel and its people that they characterized as antisemitic. They argued that such rhetoric risks undermining Somalia’s diplomatic interests and could strain relations with Western partners that have supported successive Somali governments over the past two decades.

The remarks come amid renewed attention to Somaliland’s engagement with Israel, an issue that has intensified political debate as the Federal Government of Somalia continues to oppose any international contacts it believes could lend legitimacy to Somaliland’s separate foreign relations.

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