Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, the de facto president of Somaliland (a self-declared independent territory that broke away from Somalia in 1991 but lacks broad international recognition), travelled to Jerusalem on Sunday for what he described as a historic first state visit to any foreign country. Israel, which in December 2025 became the first nation to formally recognise Somaliland's independence, hosted Abdullahi for talks with President Isaac Herzog. The visit underscores the strategic importance of Somaliland — which controls coastline along the Gulf of Aden and maintains its own currency, passport, and military — and breaks a 35-year diplomatic isolation that no other government had been willing to end.