Israel’s quest for strategic depth in the Horn of Africa through Somaliland

SS: At an Israeli request and funded by the United Arab Emirates: Israel wants to establish a military base in Somaliland, in return for recognizing Somaliland as an independent country and an ally of Israel.

The United Arab Emirates is pressuring Somaliland to sign a joint cooperation agreement and establish an Israeli military base in its territory. The United Arab Emirates has had a military base since 2017 and is one of the few countries that has recognized Somaliland as a country. In addition, it invests money in the country and trains Somaliland’s security forces.

There were reports in the past that Israel and the United Arab Emirates wanted to take over the island of Socotra in Yemen and establish a military and intelligence base there with Israel. According to reports from March 2024, Israel and the United Arab Emirates took over the island of Abdul Kori west of the island of Sokrata and established a military base there including a landing strip for airplanes.

In the past it was reported that Israel has an intelligence base in Eritrea, which oversees the Straits of Bab al-Mandab, on a mountain peak at a height of more than 3000 A meter above sea level, about 135 km south of the Eritrean capital, it seems that following the attacks of the Houthis and the discovery of Iranian warships in the Red Sea, Israel is trying to increase its military and intelligence hold in the Bab al-Mandab area