It's not only Somaliland, Israel is equally desperate for recognition

Residents wave Somaliland flags as they gather to celebrate Israel’s announcement recognising Somaliland’s statehood in downtown Hargeisa, on December 26, 2025. [AFP]

There are several geopolitical entities that believe they are countries but have problems getting others to recognise them. There is desperate Somaliland which believes it is independent of Somalia and would like to be recognised as a state. It received its first recognition from Israel, a post-World War II implant among the Arabs in 1948, that is very persuasive in the US-led Conceptual West which has problems faulting Israel on anything. Influence in the West is synonymous with influence in the grossly dependent Global South. Israel controls Palestine comprising Gaza and West Bank which it annexed from Egypt and Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. It would like its claims recognised as part of Greater Israel without the Palestinians. There is a convergence of interests between Somaliland and Israel. Each desperate for recognition of its claim to territory and independence, consider the other a force of legitimation. They therefore gravitate to each other.