On Dec. 26, the politically and diplomatically beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced that they recognized the Somaliland region as an independent state. Israel’s recognition of the Somaliland administration in Hargeisa has been characterized as a breakthrough in the self-declared republic’s three-decade quest for international legitimacy. Yet when subjected to analysis, this recognition is revealed to be considerably less consequential. The recognition reveals more about Netanyahu’s precarious political position, his deteriorating international standing and broader regional geopolitical rivalries than it does about Somaliland. This so-called recognition appears politically opportunistic, legally problematic and strategically destabilizing for the Horn of Africa region.
Netanyahu’s isolation
Netanyahu currently governs from a position of political weakness both domestically and internationally. Within Israel, his administration presides over a deeply fractured society experiencing profound polarization, sustained by war fatigue, constitutional controversies surrounding judicial reforms and prolonged governmental instability. Substantial segments of Israeli civil society perceive his continued tenure as motivated primarily by personal legal survival rather than coherent na
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