‘Everybody should do that’: Netanyahu defends Somaliland recognition in Newsmax interview

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defends Israel’s decision to formally recognize the self-declared Republic of Somaliland amid international condemnation of the move, in an interview with Newsmax during his visit to the US.

“Why not support a democratic moderate country that wants to join the Abraham Accords? I think everybody should do that,” Netanyahu says when asked about the reasoning behind the decision, which sparked a wave of backlash from many Muslim-majority and European nations.

“Somaliland has six million citizens – moderate Muslims, they want to join the Abraham Accords, and I think that’s very good,” the premier says.

“They are democrats, they’ve had elections,” he continues, contrasting that with “the rest of Somalia, which is hodgepodge, has had Al-Shabaab terrorists there, never had elections for, I don’t know, for decades, has had a lot of terrorists coming there.”

Following Netanyahu’s announcement of the move last week, Channel 12 reported that the prospect of ties between Israel and Somaliland emerged as Israel searched for countries willing to take in Palestinians from Gaza during the war with Hamas. Another central Israeli motivation for deepening ties with Somaliland is the latter’s proximity to Yemen, access to which would make it easier for Israel to conduct strikes and surveil the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Tune 4p eastern @Newsmax ⁦@IsraeliPM⁩ Netanyahu interview pic.twitter.com/yP1sr8HO4H

— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) December 30, 2025