Somaliland has inaugurated an embassy in Jerusalem, marking a significant step in its relationship with Israel and a rare diplomatic breakthrough for the self-declared republic that has spent more than three decades seeking international recognition. The opening took place during the first state visit to Israel by Somaliland's President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, who met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who earlier this year made an official visit to Somaliland's capital Hargeisa, welcomed Abdullahi and described the moment as historic.

Somaliland, a territory in the Horn of Africa on the Gulf of Aden, broke away from Somalia in 1991 following the collapse of the central government in Mogadishu and a devastating civil war. Since then it has operated as a de facto state, holding its own elections, issuing its own currency and maintaining relative stability — but without any internationally recognised sovereignty. That changed last December when Israel became the first country in the world to formally recognise Somaliland's independence, a move criticised by dozens of states and organisations including China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the African Union.

By locating its mission in Jerusalem rather than Tel Aviv, where the vast majority of foreign embassies are based, Somaliland becomes only the eighth country to establish a diplomatic presence in the city. Netanyahu praised the choice, drawing an explicit parallel between Somaliland's quest for recognition and Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its capital. Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1980 in a step not recognised by most of the international community. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and the Palestinian Authority condemned the embassy opening as