Israel appoints first ambassador to Somaliland

Israel has appointed its first ambassador to Somaliland, months after it officially recognised the breakaway region in Somalia.

The appointment of Michael Lotem, who has previously served as Israel’s ambassador to Kenya, was reported by Israel’s public broadcaster on Wednesday.

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It is the latest step in a partnership that has gathered pace rapidly since December, when Israel became the first country in the world to recognise Somaliland, ending more than 30 years of diplomatic isolation.

On Tuesday, Somaliland’s president, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, told a joint session of parliament that Israel had proven itself a “reliable partner”, drawing lawmakers to their feet in applause.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, following a devastating civil war, but Somalia has never recognised it.

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has drawn wide condemnation from the UN Security Council, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union.

Since Israel’s announcement in December, both sides have moved swiftly to develop the relationship.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, visited Somaliland’s capital, Hargeisa, in January, and Somaliland subsequently sent a delegation from its water ministry to Israel for training in water management.

Somaliland’s president told the news agency Reuters in February that he expected a trade deal with Israel to follow soon.

Israel has also granted diplomatic approval to Mohamed Hagi, a presidential adviser who was central to brokering the recognition, as Somaliland’s first ambassador to Israel.

Somali officials have been angered by the growing ties, with the country’s president earlier this year calling it the “gravest attack” on the country’s sovereignty and accusing Israel of seeking to establish a military base to launch attacks against Yemen.

Somaliland lies across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi movement controls the country’s northwest. The group is hostile to Israel and began firing missiles at the country in late March in response to Israeli strikes on Iran.

The Houthis have said they would consider an Israeli presence in Somaliland a legitimate target.

In March, Somaliland’s minister of the presidency, Khadar Hussein Abdi, told Bloomberg that it would pursue a “strategic relationship” with Israel encompassing security cooperation.

Abdi refused to rule out the prospect of an Israeli military base in the country and said that it “will be analysed at some point”.

Ali Omar, Somalia’s state minister for foreign affairs, told Al Jazeera that his country did not want to see its territory “pulled into external confrontations or used in ways that could further destabilise an already sensitive region”.

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