Somaliland president hopes for security cooperation with Israel by end of year

President Abdullahi and Somaliland’s supporters in the United States are pressing for a greater degree of normalization for the country.

By Andrew Bernard, JNS

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi expects security cooperation with Israel to begin by the end of the year after the Jewish recognized the breakaway republic in December.

Speaking to reporters at the conclusion of a two-week visit to Washington last week, Abdullahi left open the possibility of an Israeli military presence in the country that most of the world, including the United States, still recognizes as part of Somalia.

“My priority is water,” Abdullahi said. Israel “gave training for 50 Somaliland water engineers, and they will start some water projects, including desalination of Berbera seawater.”

“Hopefully, before the end of the year, they will start to cooperate in the security sector,” he told reporters, including JNS.

Berbera is the main port of Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991.

Abdullahi and Somaliland’s supporters in the United States are pressing for a greater degree of normalization for the country, which has no official diplomatic relations with the United States and is currently recognized only by Israel.

Those measures include access to the SWIFT banking system, separating the State Department’s travel advisory for Somaliland from that of Somalia and greater military cooperation.

That potential military cooperation may now have greater importance for the United States given Somaliland’s proximity to Yemen and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which is under threat from the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group.

“We gave an offer to the United States for partnership in security, whether it’s counterterrorism, maritime security, or protection of ships in the area,” Abdullahi told reporters.

“Officials from the administration, the Department of War, confirmed that they wish for the relationship to grow.” (U.S. President Donald Trump refers to the Pentagon as the War Department.)

During his time in Washington, Abdullahi also met with representatives of the Jewish community, including the American Jewish Committee, and said that he hopes that those talks might lead to greater economic development for the country of six million people, which, if it gained independence, would be one of the poorest in the world.

“We’re discussing with these Jewish organizations that we now have full cooperation with Israel, and hopefully they will encourage Jewish or Israeli investment in Somaliland,” he said.

He described some of the economic challenges the country faces, including its reliance on shipping traffic to generate tax revenue, which has plummeted amid the conflict between the United States and Iran.

“Because of the war, the number of containers coming to Berbera became maybe 48% less,” he said. “We don’t know if that continues or how long we can manage.”

“Hopefully, this will be a temporary issue. The war will be over. The problem will be solved,” Abdullahi said. “We pray for that.”