As if it were a delayed Christmas present, last December 26 Israel recognized Somaliland, a territory in East Africa, as an independent state. It was what Somaliland had pursued for more than three decades, since it separated Financial Times in mid-March. in mid-March the president of Somaliland, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi.Somaliland is a few kilometers from Yemen, where the Houthis, a Shiite group opposed to Israel and supported by Iran in the so-called Axis of Resistance, operate. In statements to Bloomberg, two Somaliland officials confirmed the rumors: the territory will allow Israel to gather information about the Houthis and carry out operations against them. A local politician linked to the presidency did not rule out, in the same article, that Israel could establish a base there. This position on the Red Sea is also key due to the proximity of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the entry point for ships heading for the Suez Canal. Any blockade of this point would force ships sailing between Asia and Europe to go around southern Africa, which would contribute to inflation in Europe. As we have seen in the Strait of Hormuz, the power gained from controlling such areas is invaluable. Israel is making a move against its enemies, and Somaliland finally has the recognition it needed. In return, it risks the element that has made it an exception: peace.

Israel has officially recognized Somaliland, the breakaway region of Somalia, as an "independent and sovereign state," according to a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This makes it the first country to recognize this semi-desert territory, roughly the size of Nicaragua, with a population of 3.5 million, which declared its independence in 1991. Since then, no other country had recognized it as an independent nation. "This declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump," Netanyahu explained, referring to the agreements Israel signed in 2020 with US mediation to normalize diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Later, two other countries, Sudan and Morocco, also joined the agreement.