As NEWSRAEL reported in the past (see link below) Israel is considering establishing military bases in Somaliland, brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The reason? A strategic opportunity against the Houthis – and an economic interest.
The base that Israel is aiming to establish, which aims to monitor Yemen and the Bab el-Mandab Strait. According to the report, Israel in return will maintain relations with Somaliland, a government that controls northern Somalia and is currently not officially recognized by Israel. It turns out that Trump is going to recognize the country.
Crazy.
Now - Somaliland, a self-governing region within Somalia, will be much closer to being recognized by the United States as the world’s newest country when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January.
Support for the region has grown strong among Republican US-Africa policy leaders on Capitol Hill, right-leaning Washington DC think tanks, and likely Africa advisors of Trump’s incoming White House. Many of these people told Semafor Africa they would encourage Trump to recognize Somaliland “even if it wasn’t on Day One.”
Recognizing Somaliland could enable US intelligence to set up long term operations to monitor the movement of weapons in a volatile region as well as keep an eye on Chinese activity. China already has a permanent military base in neighboring Djibouti. It should allow the US to better monitor Houthi activity in Yemen.
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Israel wants to establish a military base in Somaliland