Somaliland to join countries recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

Somaliland will open an embassy in Jerusalem, its ambassador to Israel, Mohamed Hagi, said on Tuesday -- a move that would align Hargeisa with a small group of countries that recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“I am pleased to announce that the Republic of Somaliland’s embassy will be located in Jerusalem,” Hagi wrote in a post on X, adding that “the embassy will open soon, while Israel will also establish its embassy in Hargeisa.”

The ambassador added that the move reflected “growing friendship, mutual respect, and strategic cooperation between our two peoples.”

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, welcomed what he described as a decision by Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi to establish Somaliland’s embassy in Jerusalem.

“I commend my friend, the President of Somaliland, on his important decision to establish Somaliland’s embassy in our eternal capital, Jerusalem,” Sa'ar said in a statement posted on social media. “The opening of the embassy in Jerusalem will mark another significant step in strengthening relations between our countries and peoples. We will work together to implement this decision soon,” he added.

Sa'ar said the mission would become the eighth embassy in Jerusalem and added that Israel looks forward to hosting the Somaliland president in the city “soon.”

Israel considers Jerusalem its “eternal and indivisible capital,” while Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Most countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.

The city remains one of the most contested cities in the world because both Israel, which critics increasingly describe as a settler-colonial project, and the indigenous State of Palestine claim it as their capital. Jerusalem holds deep historical, religious, and political significance for Jews, Muslims, and Christians, making sovereignty over the city central to the broader Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Israel has long maintained that Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, captured during the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, is its historic and “eternal and undivided” capital.

After Israeli forces captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the war, Israel later annexed the area in a move not recognized by most of the international community. Since then, the Israeli government has treated the entire city as under Israeli sovereignty, with major state institutions -- including the Knesset (parliament), the Supreme Court, and key government ministries -- located there.

Palestinians, who have long faced displacement, occupation, and settler violence, also view Jerusalem as central to their future statehood, particularly East Jerusalem, which contains major Muslim and Christian holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Palestinians envision East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state. They also view Israeli settlement expansion, home demolitions, residency restrictions, and land policies in East Jerusalem as violations of Palestinian rights and as efforts to alter the demographic and political character of the city.

A recent UN Human Rights Office report says Israel alarmingly expanded settlements and annexation efforts across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem between November 2024 and October 2025, contributing to the forced displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians amid rising violence by settlers and Israeli forces. The report documented 1,732 incidents of settler violence, including attacks on homes, farmland, and civilians,

The international community largely does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers East Jerusalem occupied territory under international law, and numerous UN resolutions have stated that the city’s final status should be resolved through negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

For decades, most countries avoided officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in full and instead kept their embassies in Tel Aviv, reflecting the international consensus that Jerusalem’s status remains disputed. Many countries in the Global South, particularly Muslim-majority states, have consistently maintained that East Jerusalem is Palestinian territory occupied by Israel and support Palestinian claims to the city.

The United States officially moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018 during the first administration of Donald Trump, becoming the first major country to formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital through such a move. The decision was a major shift in longstanding U.S. foreign policy, which for decades had avoided taking a formal position on Jerusalem’s final status pending Israeli–Palestinian peace negotiations. Following the U.S. move, a small number of countries -- including Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, and Papua New Guinea -- also opened embassies or diplomatic offices in Jerusalem.

The U.S. decision was highly controversial and remains so today. Critics argued that recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital before a peace agreement effectively prejudged one of the conflict’s most sensitive issues. The decision also drew criticism from many governments, the United Nations, and international legal experts, who reiterated that the status of Jerusalem should be resolved through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has intensified. Human rights organizations and international observers have reported increased Israeli military operations, settler attacks, arrests, and the displacement of Palestinians in these areas.

The war has also once again placed the Palestinian cause at the center of global attention. Large parts of Gaza Strip have been heavily destroyed during Israeli military violence, resulting in widespread civilian casualties, over 75,000, and humanitarian catastrophe. International scholars of genocide have recognized Israel’s actions as genocide. Israel strongly rejects those accusations and says its military campaign is aimed at defeating Hamas following the October 7 attacks.

The conflict has also intensified international legal and diplomatic pressure on Israel’s leadership. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes. Israeli officials have rejected the accusations and criticized the court’s decision.

Somaliland’s decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem follows more than a year of quiet diplomatic engagement between Somaliland and Israel, which ultimately led to Israel’s recognition of Somaliland and the exchange of ambassadors. The latest move, establishing an embassy in Jerusalem, remains controversial because Somaliland joins a small group of countries and entities that recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.