HARGEISA — Israel's first ambassador to Somaliland, Michael Lotem, presented his credentials to President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, at the presidential palace in Hargeisa last week, Israel's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, November 1, in a statement reported by Geeska and Somalia Today. A cornerstone-laying ceremony for a planned Israeli embassy in Hargeisa followed the presentation. Lotem is the first diplomat from a United Nations member state to be formally accredited to Somaliland since Israel recognised its independence on December 26, 2025.
"Israel is determined to develop and strengthen its relations with Somaliland," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in the ministry's statement. "The appointment of ambassadors, in accordance with the agreement reached when our countries established mutual recognition, is another important step in deepening the ties between us." Cirro described the occasion as a "historical day", noting that no Somaliland president had previously received the credentials of an ambassador from a UN member state that recognised the territory, and the Somaliland presidency called the ceremony a new chapter translating recognition into formal diplomatic representation. Lotem said he would work on concrete gains in areas including security, defence, trade, technology, healthcare and education, according to the presidency, as reported by Somalia Today.
Source: Somalia Today, Israel's first ambassador to Somaliland presents credentials, November 1, 2026
A year of exchanges since recognition
The accreditation follows a fast sequence of high-level exchanges since the December 2025 recognition. Sa'ar visited Hargeisa in January 2026, and Somaliland opened an embassy in Jerusalem during Abdullahi's visit to Israel in June. At the Hargeisa ceremony, Abdullahi pointed to his territory's strategic position around the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden — across from Yemen and near the Bab el-Mandeb shipping strait — saying cooperation there carries regional and international significance, Geeska reported.
Somalia and the African Union object
Somalia's federal government says Somaliland remains part of its territory and has no authority to conduct independent diplomacy. Mogadishu urged Israel to reverse Lotem's appointment back in April and appealed to international organisations to reject moves that could legitimise secession; in a statement carried by the Somali National News Agency, it called the appointment "a direct breach of Somalia's sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity". The African Union Commission also condemned the appointment in April, reaffirming support for Somalia's territorial integrity and warning that unilateral recognition could undermine regional stability, Somalia Today reported. Hargeisa's position is that its May 18, 1991 declaration restored the sovereignty it briefly held as an independent state in 1960, before it united with the formerly Italian-administered territory to form the Somali Republic.
Source: Somalia Today, Israel's first ambassador to Somaliland presents credentials, November 1, 2026
The security question in the background
The relationship's security dimension is real but publicly undefined. During a June visit to Israel, Somaliland Defence Minister Mohamed Yusuf Ali told Reuters that Israel was helping train Somaliland's police and military, that Israel had no military base in Somaliland and that reports of negotiations to establish one were wrong, Somalia Today reported; Abdullahi later told Semafor in September that military access could in principle be negotiated with Israel, the United States or other partners if Somaliland also secured benefits. Neither government has publicly detailed any military arrangement, and Cirro has said no base discussions have taken place — so claims beyond training cooperation remain unconfirmed and are reported here as attributed positions, not settled fact.
Source: Somalia Today, Israel's first ambassador to Somaliland presents credentials, November 1, 2026
Watch for construction of the Israeli embassy in Hargeisa, any response from Mogadishu or the African Union to the accreditation itself, and whether any second country follows Israel in recognising Somaliland.