A country suffering international isolation has recognised a small territory desperate for international attention.

That's the case with Israel and Somaliland, the breakaway Somalian province on the Horn of Africa which Israel became the first UN member state to formally recognise as a country last week.

The move might seem strange or unimportant, but it caused an enormous stir, provoking condemnation from across the region and triggering an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

So why did Israel decide to partner with this small territory, with only around six million people, a long way from its own borders?

A woman wearing Somaliland colours in 2017. (ABC News: Sally Sara)

Reason one: Securing an ally near the Houthis

Analysts agree the main reason is to build a base against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, just across the Gulf of Aden, who began attacking international shipping connected to Israel and firing rockets at the Jewish state, purportedly in support of Palestinians, after the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023.

Cultivating allies close to its enemies has long been an Israeli strategy, said Asher Lubotzky, a senior research fellow at the Israel-Africa Relations Institute.

He pointed to the "nice structure" of alliances Israel has built around Iran, including its close relationship with Azerbaijan, which borders Iran on the Caspian Sea, and the Kurdish region in Iraq, which borders north-west Iran.

"So Israel knew how to get really close to Iran when they needed to, versus the Houthis, where there was nothing," he said.

"I've been saying in the last year and a half… if you want to get closer to the Houthis, if you want to have more presence on the Red Sea, you've got to work with Somaliland.

"They're almost the best ally you can ask for."

Israel's ally in the Gulf region, the United Arab Emirates, already has a military base in Somaliland and a UAE company runs the port at Berbera.

Israel has historically undertaken this approach, known as the "periphery doctrine", to cultivate non-Arab allies in an otherwise hostile region, such as Turkey, Ethiopia and pre-Revolution Iran.

Reason two: A theory about Gazan refugees

Somaliland, which declared independence in 1991, has been looking for allies and particularly seeking recognition from the United States in its pursuit of international legitimacy.

In March 2025, reports suggested US and Israel officials had approached Somaliland, as well as Somalia and Sudan, to consider accepting Palestinians relocated from Gaza under the so-called "Trump Riviera Plan".

The idea, which included the complete expulsion of Gazans, was quietly shelved by the White House after broad international condemnation and allegations of ethnic cleansing.