UN Security Council to convene emergency meeting on Israel’s Somaliland recognition

The UN Security Council will convene an emergency session on Monday to discuss Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, with members slated to condemn Jerusalem’s move.

Israel announced the step on Friday, days before Somalia is slated to take over the presidency of the Security Council. In the announcement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the recognition was “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” and that the countries would cooperate in “economic fields, on agriculture, [and] in the fields of social development.”

The decision was met with anger from several regional powers who accused Israel of undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia — the country from which Somaliland broke away in 1991. Israel is now the only UN member state to recognize Somaliland’s independence.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said in a statement Saturday that “Israel will act responsibly and we will continue to cooperate with partners who contribute to regional stability.”

The European Union joined the chorus of condemnations of Israel’s move.

“The European Union reaffirms the importance of respecting the unity, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Somalia pursuant of its constitution, the Charters of the African Union and the United Nations,” Brussels said in a statement.

“This is key for the peace and stability of the entire Horn of Africa region,” the statement continued. “The EU encourages meaningful dialogue between Somaliland and the Federal Government of Somalia to resolve long-standing differences.”

Mogadishu denounced Israel’s move as a “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty, while Egypt, Turkey, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and the Saudi-based Organization of Islamic Cooperation all condemned the decision.

A self-proclaimed republic, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden — across from Yemen and next to Djibouti — and has its own money, passports and army. But it has been diplomatically isolated since unilaterally declaring independence.

A joint statement by 21 mostly Middle Eastern or African countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation rejected Israel’s recognition on Saturday, “given the serious repercussions of such unprecedented measure on peace and security in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and its serious effects on international peace and security as a whole.”

The countries — including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran — also noted “the full rejection of any potential link between such measure and any attempts to forcibly expel the Palestinian people out of their land.”

Somaliland has been floated in the past as a potential destination for Gazans who emigrate from the war-torn Strip.

Notably, the three countries that normalized ties with Israel in 2020 — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco — did not sign the statement. Syria issued a separate statement also rejecting Israel’s recognition.

The statement also contended that “the recognition of parts of states constitutes a serious precedent and threatens international peace and security, and violates the cardinal principles of international law and the United Nations Charter.”

The US State Department on Saturday said that it continued to recognize the territorial integrity of Somalia, “which includes the territory of Somaliland.”

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