After Somaliland, Israel Should Recognize South Yemen

Following Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, Michael Rubin argues that the United States and Israel should also recognize South Yemen, citing strategic, legal, and security advantages.

This article argues that Israel and the United States should recognize both Somaliland and South Yemen as independent countries and establish full diplomatic relations with them.

Key points:

• Somaliland: Israel’s recent recognition of Somaliland is justified because Somaliland has defined borders, a functioning government with multiple elections, a thriving economy, and secures its coastline against threats. The author argues it is a strategically wise move to counter terror, promote stability, and limit Iran’s influence.

• South Yemen: Like Somaliland, South Yemen has a history of independence, well-defined borders, and a more moderate political culture than its neighbors. Recognizing South Yemen would secure a significant portion of coastline and deny Iran maritime and land smuggling routes. The Southern Transitional Council has established a functioning government despite challenges.

• Strategic Benefits: Recognizing both countries would benefit Israel, the United States, and moderate Arab countries by countering terrorism, promoting regional stability, and limiting Iran’s ability to export instability. It would also allow Abraham Accords countries to establish a presence in Aden or Mukalla.

• Historical Context: The author criticizes the blind endorsement of Yemeni unity by American and European diplomats, arguing that it privileges Iran and reactionary movements. He points out that a unified Yemen was not the original international goal, referencing the British plan for a Federation of South Arabia.

In essence, the article advocates for a shift in diplomatic strategy, urging recognition of Somaliland and South Yemen as a way to advance strategic interests and promote stability in the region.

The complete piece is as follows:

After Somaliland, Israel Should Recognize South Yemen

Israel and the United States Should Not Only Recognize but Also Establish Full Diplomatic Relations with Both Countries

By Michael Rubin

Israel’s December 26, 2025, recognition of Somaliland’s independence should not be controversial. Somaliland checks many boxes other aspirants for independence do not: The manufactured crisis over Sanaag and Sool aside, it has defined borders dating back to the British protectorate in the nineteenth century. All five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council recognized Somaliland’s independence from the United Kingdom on June 26, 1960. It was a short-lived independence when its leadership agreed to merge with the former Italian Somaliland to form a unified Somali Republic. It was a marriage that did not work out; as Somaliland declared its resumed independence in 1991, as the rest of Somalia collapsed into chaos.

Eighty percent of Somalilanders grew up after separation from Somalia and have no memory beyond an autonomous existence.

Despite being formally unrecognized and excluded from both the United Nations and the international banking system, Somaliland has thrived. It has had multiple one-man, one-vote elections, a simple act Somalia itself has failed to accomplish despite billions of dollars earmarked for that purpose.

Indeed, Somaliland became the world’s first country to utilize biometric iris scanning to prevent vote fraud. It created a business climate where investors could thrive. International airlines began to service Hargeisa. Walking into Telesom’s headquarters is like stepping into a NASA operations room. The World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index ranks Berbera’s deep water Sub-Saharan Africa’s top ports.

On an international scale, Berbera outperforms Shanghai and Hamburg. Berbera Airport is turnkey-ready to serve as a hub for regional and Middle Eastern airlines. Whereas Gazans famously destroyed the greenhouses and other economic infrastructure Israel transferred them in 2005, Somaliland built theirs from scratch and now hosts Africa’s second-largest Coca-Cola bottling plant and multibillion-dollar mobile money companies.

Somalilanders have their own passports, which many African neighbors and Gulf Cooperation Council states accept; Somaliland has its own currency, and its own flag. Eighty percent of Somalilanders grew up after separation from Somalia and have no memory beyond an autonomous existence. Somaliland even thrives in education. Graduates of its Abaarso network have received scholarships to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Harvard, and Oxford University; most then return to Somaliland to build their own country, rather than strain the U.S. Social Security network.

While many Arab states and the Palestinians demand an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss Israel’s move, Jerusalem’s recognition of Hargeisa is both morally sound and strategically wise.

If their goal is to defeat terror, bring stability, and stymie Iran’s ability to export instability, then neither Jerusalem nor theoretically Washington should stop at Somaliland.

Somaliland’s strategic actions speak louder than words. While the neighboring Somali federal state of Puntland once cultivated pirates, Somaliland has denied its territory to pirates or any threat to freedom of navigation. While Yemen’s Houthis smuggle weaponry from Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia proper, they give Somaliland a wide berth. This is no coincidence. Somaliland’s coast guard is barebones but fearless. Even wildlife smugglers from friendly countries like the United Arab Emirates involved in the illicit cheetah and falcon trade have learned they cannot run roughshod over Somaliland’s laws and protections.

When Somaliland, with very little money, secures its 528-mile coastline, it belies the notion that Djibouti, Sudan, or Somalia cannot; these countries only choose not to do so. While President Joe Biden spent hundreds of millions of dollars patrolling the Red Sea with U.S. aircraft carrier strike groups, Israel and the United Arab Emirates, if not the United States, could patrol the Bab el-Mandeb by small boat and air from Berbera. Simply put, recognizing Somaliland is a no-brainer for either Jerusalem or Washington.

If their goal is to defeat terror, bring stability, and stymie Iran’s ability to export instability, then neither Jerusalem nor theoretically Washington should stop at Somaliland. Whereas the Palestinians and Kurds receive greater attention on the world stage, South Yemen like Somaliland has a far better case by any metric.

Like Somaliland, it has a history of independence with well-defined borders, and like Somaliland, its political culture is far more moderate than its neighbors. South Yemen denies its territory to weapons smugglers, and it has established a functioning state, even under fire from Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi-backed Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. The Southern Transitional Council has established a functioning government, albeit one handicapped by lack of international recognition.

While Yemeni unity under de facto northern control could mean Iran or its diplomatic allies controlling a 3,700-mile coastline from the Pakistani border to the Bab el-Mandeb, recognizing South Yemen would secure 1,200-miles. For Abraham Accords countries to base forces in Aden or Mukalla would deny Iran both maritime and land smuggling routes.

Seldom does international diplomacy present a masterstroke that brings only benefits to Israel, the United States, and moderate Arab countries at very little cost.

Just as American and European diplomats preached Somali unity as a mantra, despite its clear detriment to U.S. interests, so, too, have they blindly endorsed Yemeni unity even though, absent the Houthi presence, this privileges Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other reactionary movements. Like the Arab Gulf states, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Basra in Iraq, South Yemen’s tradition of trade and the natural mixing of peoples along the coast have imbued it with a far more cosmopolitan culture than the interior Yemen tribes who have dominated the politics of unified Yemen.

Nor was a unified Yemen ever the international goal. Until Communists seized power in southern Yemen in 1967, the British plan was creation of a Federation of South Arabia consisting of various emirates, not unlike what became the United Arab Emirates.

China, Somalia, the Palestinian Authority, and failed Arab states may whine at the United Nations about Israel’s actions. Israel should ignore them. Instead, Jerusalem, Washington, Abu Dhabi, and other Abraham Accords countries should immediately repeat its actions and recognize Aden as the capital of an independent South Yemen or South Arabia. Seldom does international diplomacy present a masterstroke that brings only benefits to Israel, the United States, and moderate Arab countries at very little cost. Even more rare is the opportunity to achieve such a win twice in a week. It is time to recognize the independence of not only Somaliland but also South Yemen and for Israel and the United States to establish full diplomatic relations with both.

Published originally on December 28, 2025.