Somalia’s president calls for unity at an emergency joint session of parliament, which declares the Israeli move ‘null and void’.
Published On 28 Dec 2025
Somalia’s president has condemned Israel’s recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland as a “naked invasion”, warning that the move threatens to ignite separatist movements elsewhere.
Addressing an emergency joint session of parliament on Sunday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed the “greatest abuse” of Somalia’s sovereignty in the nation’s history and referred to Israel as an “enemy”.
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“I am encouraging the Somali people to be calm and to defend the unity and the independence of our country, which is facing this naked invasion,” he said.
Lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution declaring Israel’s recognition as “null and void” although the measure is largely symbolic given that Somalia has not controlled Somaliland since it declared independence in 1991, which Somalia has never accepted.
The resolution warns that individuals or institutions violating Somalia’s sovereignty will face legal consequences under the country’s penal code and international law. It directed the government to take up the matter with the United Nations, African Union, Arab League and other regional bodies.
‘Existential threat’
Netanyahu on Friday announced that Israel had established full diplomatic relations with Somaliland, describing the move as being in the spirit of the United States-brokered Abraham Accords, which normalised ties between Israel and several Arab countries.
The announcement made Israel the first UN member state to formally recognise the self-declared state, which has sought international acceptance for more than three decades without success.
Mohamud accused Netanyahu of trying to import Middle Eastern conflicts into Somalia and promised his country would not allow its territory to be used as a military base to attack other nations.
He urged Somalis to set aside “tribal and regional rivalries” to confront what he described as an “existential threat” to the country’s unity.
“We need to combine our wisdom and strengths to defend our existence and sovereignty,” the president said, calling on Somaliland’s leaders to enter meaningful negotiations to preserve Somalia’s territorial integrity.
Somali Prime Minister Hamza Barre told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israel was “searching for a foothold in the Horn of