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Tel Aviv, Israel, February 13, 2010 (SL Times) – The
government of Israel is ready to restore the de jure recognition it has
offered to Somaliland in 1960 as it eyes the Red Sea and the Horn, an
Israeli spokesman says.
Below is an article published by Somaliland Press on February 12, 2010:
The government of Israel is ready to restore the de jure recognition it
has offered to Somaliland in 1960 as it eyes the Red Sea and the Horn,
an Israeli spokesman says. According to a local source, Golisnews, Mr.
Yigal Palmor, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman is quoted on the
Israeli newspaper of Haaretz Daily saying his government was ready to
recognize Somaliland again. He cited Israel was the first state to
recognize Somaliland in 1960 when it received its independence from
Great Britain.
However, Mr. Palmor admitted Somaliland government has not contacted the
Israeli government to seek ties. When asked a question regarding
Somalia, Mr. Palmor answered: “Somalia looks like the Afghanistan of the
Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, historically speaking we know the Somali
people have different believes and politics. The Somali people have
different political values of which they unified in 1960 that led to the
whole misunderstanding and ultimately the collapse of Somalia,” he told
Haaretz Daily. While answering to a question regarding Somaliland-Israel
ties, he said: “Israel was the first nation to recognize Somaliland and
indeed was the first country the State of Israel has recognized, after
it received it’s Independence from Great Britain. When it unified with
Southern Somalia, again we were the first to recognize it. We always
wanted a relationship with a Muslim country in East Africa and which we
can share the Red sea with.” Mr. Palmor said his country was ready to
restore Somaliland’s old status however currently the two states have no
bilateral ties.
He added Israel has ties with number of East African countries including
Tanzania, Uganda and even Djibouti. Many analysts believe Israel has
growing national interest in the Red Sea region, a key shipping route.
According to well-informed regional sources Israel believes the region
is also a key route for arms from Iran for Hezbollah, Sudanese regime
and number of other groups in Palestine. The Red Sea gives Israeli ships
access to the Arabia Sea and are within cruise-missile range of Iran.
Israel also concern about Arab nations such as Egypt blocking it’s
commercial shipping lines. There are unconfirmed reports also suggesting
Israel wants to deploy submarines in the Somaliland port of Berbera and
possibly establish a military outpost. Many Arab states have in the past
expressed concerns about the proposed Israeli-base in the Horn of Africa
seeing it as Israel surrounding them.
The region is well known for it’s strategic importance and it was days
ago when an Al Qaeda spokesman, Said al-Shihri, said “taking control of
Bab El-Mandeb, will constitute an escalating victory: the Jews will be
crushed in a vise, because it is through the Strait that the United
States brings its support to Israel.” Bab El-Mandeb, which means “tears
of gates” in Arabic is a 20-mile long inlet located in the narrowest
point of the Red Sea, between the shores of the Horn of Africa and
Yemen. It is no secret to Somaliland though, the former president, Mr.
Ibrahim Haji Egal addressed the very issue in a letter to the former
Israeli head of state, Mr. Yitshak Rabin in 1995. Fifteen years ago, Mr.
Egal saw the threat of Islamic fundamentalism and the importance of Bab
El-Mandeb.
Mr. Egal, who became prime minister of Somaliland at the age of only 30,
wrote: “Today, however, although the West had won the cold war and the
threat of communism appears to be vanishing in many parts of the world,
we, in the Horn of Africa, are being threatened by a more sinister and
pernicious enemy in the form of encroaching Islamic influence.” Mr. Egal
continues, “my government firmly believes that owing to this region’s
strategic geopolitical importance as a result of its propinquity to the
oil routes and the narrow Bab El-Mandeb entrance, as well as its
proximity to the Gulf, the Middle East and the access to the Indian
Ocean.”
Egal, who was a champion politician, died May 3rd 2002 in the South
African capital Pretoria. He was succeeded by the current leader, Mr.
Dahir Rayale, who is said to have avoided approaching Israel in order
not to harm Somaliland’s current fragile relations with the Arabs and
Muslim world, which it heavily relies on for it’s only surviving
economic engines – livestock.
However many of the youths in Somaliland believe ties with Israel is
better for Somaliland’s economic environment because of it’s economical
and technological achievements. Many argue livestock is not sustainable
economy because of health issues, climate change and urbanization and
prefer developing economy based on service and high-tech sector, similar
to that one of Israel and Taiwan.
Somaliland, like Israel, finds itself politically isolated, in the
middle of a hostile region and at a thorny crossroads and if anyone is
to reach out to the unrecognized republic, it would be Israel. It too
knows how it feels to be denied it’s statehood and self-determination.
While Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, Somaliland is the
only Muslim democracy in the region. Somaliland has it’s own hybrid
system of governance under a constitution was former British
protectorate which gained independence 26th June 1960 and was recognized
by 34 countries including Israel and the United States. It later joined
South Somalia in a union that was never rectified which lasted until
1991.
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