Somaliland President to Make First Official Visit to Israel

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his wife, Michal, will host Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi and his wife, Fardosa Mohamed Robleh, at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The visit is the first official one of its kind since diplomatic relations were established between the two sides.

The ceremony will include an official welcome, a political meeting, and joint statements to the press. It comes about five months after Israel became the first country in the world to formally recognize Somaliland as an independent state, and follows what the report describes as a diplomatic thaw that began with secret contacts in the summer of 2025.

Somaliland’s first ambassador to Israel, Dr. Mohamed Haji, presented his credentials to Herzog in February and said the president would visit soon, calling the relationship a strategic partnership spanning several fields. He previously said cooperation would cover security, energy, science, and agriculture, and noted that Somalilanders value Israel’s recognition in 1960 and again after 35 years of independence and sovereignty.

Abdullahi, known as “Irro,” is portrayed as a key figure in Somaliland’s history. In 1991, after Somalia descended into civil war, he served as acting ambassador in Moscow and turned the mission into a humanitarian rescue effort, helping save thousands of Somali refugees. He later held senior diplomatic posts and was elected president in 2024.

The report says the Israeli recognition followed months of secret talks, including a covert visit by Abdullahi to Israel in the summer of 2025, where he met Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and senior security officials. Israel then appointed veteran diplomat Michael Lotem as its first ambassador to Somaliland, serving as a nonresident envoy and completing the exchange of ambassadors. The visit is expected to further deepen ties and lay practical groundwork for the announced strategic cooperation.