Israel’s Somaliland Opening: Berbera, Yemen and the Struggle for the Red Sea

Posted on by Elijah J Magnier
Map titled “Israel’s Somaliland Opening: Berbera, Yemen and the Struggle for the Red Sea”
A geopolitical map highlights Israel’s Somaliland opening and competing regional interests around the Red Sea.

By Elijah J. Magnier –

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has opened a relationship whose potential military value extends across the Gulf of Aden and into the struggle over the Red Sea. Access to Berbera could bring Israeli surveillance, F-35 and F-15 aircraft support and naval logistics closer to Yemen, drawing on infrastructure developed through Emirati partnerships. But any deployment would enter an existing contest involving Ethiopia’s maritime ambitions, Somalia’s sovereignty claims, Turkey’s influence and Washington’s choices about its African military presence. Recognition creates an opportunity; the missions authorised and the protection provided would determine its strategic worth.

Israel formally recognised Somaliland (capital Hargeisa) on 26 December 2025, becoming the first to recognise its independence since its separation from Somalia in 1991. In September, Somaliland’s president and Israel’s UN ambassador discussed cooperation that included regional security and maritime commerce. This establishes a diplomatic relationship with an explicit security dimension. It does not establish the composition or operating status of a foreign base. (Reuters, 2025; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Republic of Somaliland, 2026)

The public evidence remains mixed. In June, Somaliland’s defence minister announced that Israel was training its security forces but had no base there, yet. In July, Emirati construction at Berbera intended for American and Israeli use, while acknowledging uncertainty about the eventual users. In August, President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi offered access to Israel and the United States but denied an existing presence. These accounts support an assessment of developing access and infrastructure. Sustained access would improve Israel’s operational flexibility, particularly for intelligence collection and support (Scheer, 2026; Hochet-Bodin, Fattori and Mas, 2026; Linn, 2026).

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Published by Elijah J Magnier

Elijah J. Magnier is a veteran war correspondent and analyst specialising in military affairs, intelligence, strategic affairs and political risk. He has spent nearly four decades living and reporting inside countries at war, often from the front lines, while developing long-standing access to political leaders, military and intelligence officials, diplomats, armed non-state actors and communities directly affected by conflict. His field experience includes the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Iran–Iraq War, the Lebanese Civil War, the 1991 Gulf War, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, conflict in Sudan, the war in Afghanistan and Yemen, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the wars in Libya and Syria. He has lived for extended periods in Lebanon, Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria, allowing him to follow conflicts, political transformations and regional networks beyond the limitations of short-term war reporting. His work focuses on warfare and deterrence, terrorism and counterterrorism, intelligence, political violence, armed non-state actors, regional security and the relationship between military power and political outcomes. He has also served as an adviser to the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on Iraq and Lebanon. Magnier holds a PhD in Policing and Criminal Justice from Liverpool John Moores University and an MSc in Counterterrorism Studies from the University of London. He has undertaken advanced studies in terrorism—including terrorist ideologies, financing and counterterrorism—at the University of St Andrews; terrorism and counterterrorism at Leiden University; and negotiation, including international and cross-cultural negotiation, at ESSEC Business School in Paris. His work combines sustained field access with academic analysis of war, sovereignty, deterrence and political violence.