Israel wants India, Ethiopia, and Kenya to join its diplomatic campaign to secure Somaliland Recognition, raising the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and engaging African partners including Ethiopia and Kenya leaders
Tel Aviv, Israel – Israel is accelerating a diplomatic campaign to secure broader international recognition of Somaliland, the newly recognized country in the Horn of Africa that Jerusalem formally recognized late last month. The push, which Israeli officials privately describe as a “strategic blitz,” now involves direct engagement with at least one global power and several East African states whose security interests converge with Israel’s own.
According to reporting by an Israeli Hebrew-language daily newspaper, The Israel Hayom, and confirmed by officials familiar with the discussions, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the Somaliland file in a call Wednesday with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India, they said, is weighing whether to become the second country in the world—after Israel—to extend formal recognition.
“This is now a question of shared security architecture in one of the most dangerous maritime zones on earth,” a senior Israeli official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to diplomatic sensitivities. “India understands, as we do, that influence near the Bab el-Mandab is no longer optional—it is strategic.”
India’s Maritime Stakes
For New Delhi, the appeal is both economic and security-driven. As a major trading nation whose commercial traffic to Europe and the Mediterranean passes through the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, India has been directly affected by Houthi attacks on commercial shipping.
“India has vital interests at stake in the western Indian Ocean,” said a South Asia security analyst in New Delhi. “A friendly, stable partner with coastline opposite Bab el-Mandab would give India situational awareness and logistical depth at a time when the Red Sea has become a contested corridor.”
Netanyahu and Modi also discussed counterterrorism cooperation, expanded trade routes, digital communications projects, and enhanced joint development of military technologies, Israeli officials said.
Talks With Ethiopia, Kenya, and Others
Israeli diplomats say the recognition campaign is not limited to India. “Today” reported that Jerusalem is also in active discussions with Ethiopia—whose government signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland in 2024—and with Kenya, long a target of Islamist groups operating from Somalia.
“These are countries that understand the cost of instability in Somalia and the Horn,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said. “They are not approaching this as an abstract legal question; they see Somaliland as a functioning partner with whom they already have security and economic ties.”
Israeli officials insist that the outreach is coordinated but not coercive. “We are not forcing anyone’s hand,” the Foreign Ministry official added. “We are simply presenting the facts: Somaliland is stable, cooperative, strategically located, and meets the criteria for statehood.”
A Historic Visit
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland on December 26 made it the first and only country to formally accept the territory’s long-standing claim to independence. The move was followed this week by a historic visit to Somaliland by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar—the first such trip by an Israeli cabinet member.
Sa’ar’s visit triggered criticism from several regional governments and international organizations, many of which argued that the recognition could destabilize Somalia or embolden secessionist movements elsewhere.
Israeli officials reject that framing. “The decision was rooted in national security,” said a senior official traveling with Sa’ar. “Somaliland sits astride one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. In a period marked by Houthi attacks, Iranian entrenchment, and intensifying superpower competition, Israel cannot afford to stand on the sidelines.”
The Red Sea’s New Chessboard
The Red Sea has become a central front in Israel’s security strategy, with Houthi missile and drone strikes across the Gulf of Aden disrupting commercial routes and threatening global energy flows. Control—direct or indirect—over access points along the sea increasingly shapes the balance of power between regional and global actors.
“Whoever holds influence around Bab el-Mandab shapes the future of trade, energy, and maritime security,” said a former Israeli Navy commander. “Israel recognizes that, and so does India.”
Whether a cascade of recognitions follows remains uncertain. But Israeli officials say the strategic logic is compelling and that more announcements could come “sooner than many expect.”
“This is not symbolism,” the senior official said. “It is a recalibration of how states safeguard their interests in an era of contested waterways.”
