Israeli Minister Places Somaliland Inside Israel’s Emerging Regional Security Network
Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli has called for Israel to deepen ties with Somaliland, Greece, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates, describing the new Saudi-Turkey-Pakistan defense agreement as a worrying development for Israel.
His remarks deserve attention well beyond the political controversy surrounding the Makkah pact.
For the first time, Somaliland is being discussed publicly by a serving Israeli minister alongside some of Israel’s most important strategic partners across three connected theaters: the Eastern Mediterranean, the Gulf and the Red Sea.
That geography tells the story.
Greece and Cyprus provide Israel with strategic depth in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The UAE anchors an important partnership in the Gulf.
Somaliland sits directly on the Gulf of Aden, close to Bab el-Mandeb—the southern entrance to the Red Sea and one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
Chikli’s message therefore suggests a broader Israeli calculation: as new military blocs emerge, Jerusalem must strengthen its own network of reliable states positioned around the maritime routes linking the Mediterranean, Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The trigger is the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7 by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan. The agreement states that an armed attack against one of the three countries will be considered an attack against all and calls for deeper defense cooperation and joint deterrence.
Its signatories describe the pact as defensive and not directed against any particular state. Iran itself has publicly said it does not necessarily view the agreement as a threat.
Israel, however, is looking at the arrangement differently.
The concern appears to center particularly on Turkey.
Relations between Ankara and Jerusalem have deteriorated sharply, while Turkey’s influence in Syria and the eastern Mediterranean has expanded.
A stronger military relationship between Ankara and Riyadh therefore changes Israel’s regional calculations even if Saudi Arabia itself is not treated as an enemy.
Chikli’s proposed response is revealing.
Rather than suggesting Israel confront the emerging bloc directly, he advocates building a stronger counter-network of partnerships.
That is where Somaliland becomes strategically important.
Israel formally recognized the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state on December 26, 2025. The joint declaration explicitly called for expanding cooperation in agriculture, health, technology and the economy, while Israeli officials also praised Somaliland’s contribution to regional stability.
Security cooperation is the logical next layer.
Somaliland possesses a long Gulf of Aden coastline, the port of Berbera and functioning security institutions adjacent to maritime routes increasingly threatened by Houthi missiles, drones, piracy and regional military competition.
From an Israeli strategic perspective, Somaliland therefore offers something difficult to reproduce elsewhere: a stable partner positioned near the southern gateway of the Red Sea.
WARYATV ASSESSMENT
Chikli’s remarks should not yet be interpreted as an official Israeli defense doctrine or announcement of a military alliance.
But politically, they are important.
They show that Somaliland is moving beyond the recognition debate and entering the strategic vocabulary of Israeli policymakers.
The emerging contest in the region is increasingly about networks.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are building one.
Israel already has deep relationships with Greece, Cyprus and the UAE.
Chikli is now publicly arguing that Somaliland should become part of that strategic architecture.
For Hargeisa, this represents a significant opportunity.
Somaliland’s value is no longer based only on its demand for recognition.
It increasingly rests on something more concrete:
geography, stability and control of a strategically important coastline.
As alliances reorganize from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, Somaliland is beginning to appear exactly where it has long argued it belongs—not at the margins of regional security, but near its center.
