EFF condemns Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent state

The EFF has slammed Israel’s recognition of Somaliland as an independent nation as nothing but a ploy to destabilise Somalia in order to exert Israeli influence and control in strategic positions in Africa and the Middle-East. 

The party is the first South African organisation to join the global community in rejecting and condemning Israel following its announcement to recognise the northern region of Somaliland as an independent state. 

This is after representatives of 21 Arab, Islamic, and African countries on Friday expressed their rejection and condemnation of Israel’s decision to recognise Somaliland as an independent state, warning that the move violates international law and threatens regional stability.

In a joint statement, the countries condemned the move “in the strongest terms”, saying it violates “the principles of international law and the United Nations Charter, which explicitly stipulates the imperative of protecting the sovereignty of states and their territorial integrity, and reflects Israel's expansionist” stance.

The recognition was framed as being “in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” the normalisation agreements between Israel and several Arab/Muslim-majority nations.

In exchange for recognition, Somaliland has committed to joining the Accords and establishing full diplomatic ties, including opening embassies.

Somaliland sits along a critical coastline at the entrance to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, just 250–400 km south of Yemen. This positioning allows Israel a "forward defence" against threats from Houthi rebels and Iranian-backed forces that have disrupted global shipping lanes.

This will also provide Israel with a strategic foothold to protect maritime trade routes.

In a statement issued on Sunday morning, the EFF said the “so-called Somaliland” will give Israel a political, economic and trade footing in the Horn of Africa, and provide a destination for the remaining Palestinians who have survived ethnic cleansing, as the Islamic world has refused to partake in any resettlement program which is premised on the annexation of the land of Palestinian people. 

The war between Israel and Palestinian groups (primarily Hamas) is currently in a state of fragile, multi-phase ceasefire that began on October 10, 2025. This conflict, triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, has become the deadliest in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Over 71,000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed since October 2023, with approximately 70% being women and children. More than 171,000 have been injured.

The EFF said in addition to this, the US and Israel are engaged in a campaign to undermine international institutions whenever they are governed or led rotationally by an African state. 

“Tied to this is whether said African states are diametrically opposed to US-Israeli interests and particularly whether such African states will lead international institutions while openly supporting Palestine,” said the EFF, adding that recognising the right of Palestine to self-determination and characterising the actions of Israel against Palestinians as a genocide will have consequences of isolation from world institutions. 

The EFF added that this is not coercive diplomacy, but also imperialism and racism that will establish a culture that Africa is not fit to lead international institutions. 

“It began with the US undermining South Africa’s Presidency of the G20, and now the latest move by Israel to recognise the statehood of Somaliland in order to legitimate secession in Somalia, seeks to undermine Somalia’s tenure as President of the UN Security Council,” read the statement, which added that the US President Donald Trump, has for months been slandering Somalia as a nation, and its people and this is ultimately the purpose - to delegitimise Somalia’s standing to lead the UN Security Council in 2026. 

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency session on Monday evening to discuss Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent country.

The meeting will be convened under the agenda item titled “Threats to international peace and security.”

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) stressed that Somalia remains a sovereign IGAD member state whose unity and territorial integrity are fully recognised under international law.

In a statement issued Friday, the IGAD secretariat said that any unilateral recognition runs counter to the Charter of the United Nations, the Constitutive Act of the African Union, and the Agreement establishing IGAD.

African Union Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said any attempt to undermine Somalia's sovereignty risks peace and stability on the continent, saying the commission firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognising Somaliland as an independent entity. 

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za