By Dr. Mohamed Osman
Feb 4, 2026 · Member of the Society · Published at The Times of Israel (Blogs)
Dr. Mohamed Osman
Member of the Society · Writer at The Times of Israel
Retired physician and public-health specialist from Somaliland, based in Canada, with career service at Ottawa Public Health and Alberta Health Services — and a long-standing voice for Somaliland's international recognition.
The case for why December 2025 was more than a diplomatic gesture — and what it changes for both nations.
On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first UN member state to recognize the Republic of Somaliland — and in this opening essay of his series, Dr. Osman argues the moment was far more than a diplomatic gesture. It broke a 34-year deadlock around Somaliland's status and redrew the strategic picture of the Red Sea in a single stroke.
For Israel, he writes, the logic is strategic. Somaliland's 850-kilometer coastline on the Gulf of Aden faces the approaches to the Bab el-Mandeb strait, giving Israel a new vantage point against Iranian-backed Houthi activity and a natural extension of its old 'periphery doctrine' of building ties with pragmatic Muslim-majority states. Berbera's port and airport add practical depth to that position.
For Somaliland, recognition is the key that unlocks everything else: foreign investment that stalled for decades on the question of status, access to Israeli water, agricultural, and cybersecurity technology, and a seat at the table it has long earned. Dr. Osman sketches the shape of the bargain — resources and market access traded for civilian technology, from farm modernization to medical training — and predicts that where Israel led, others will follow.
This is the Society's summary — the full article, in the author's own words, is at The Times of Israel.
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