ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Israeli President Isaac Herzog is in Ethiopia on a two-day visit for talks aimed at deepening political and diplomatic ties, as Israel steps up its engagement in the Horn of Africa following its controversial recognition of Somaliland as an independent state in December. Ethiopian state coverage and Africanews said Herzog met President Taye Atske Selassie in Addis Ababa and also held talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The visit comes at a sensitive regional moment. On December 26, 2025, Israel became the first country to formally recognize Somaliland, a move that drew condemnation from Somalia and concern from the African Union, Egypt, Turkey and other regional players who support Somalia’s territorial integrity. Israel has framed the decision as the start of broader cooperation with Somaliland in areas such as agriculture, health, technology and trade.
That backdrop has fueled speculation that Herzog may use his Ethiopia trip to encourage Addis Ababa to move closer to recognition as well. There is no public evidence so far that Ethiopia has agreed to do that, and neither the Ethiopian nor Israeli readouts I found said recognition was on the agenda. But the question has become harder to ignore because Ethiopia already signed a 2024 memorandum of understanding with Somaliland giving the landlocked country access to the port of Berbera, in exchange for what Somaliland said would eventually include recognition. Somalia denounced that arrangement as an attack on its sovereignty.
Other regional powers are clearly trying to keep Ethiopia from taking that next step. During a visit to Addis Ababa last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel’s recognition of Somaliland would benefit neither the territory nor the wider Horn of Africa, and he stressed Turkey’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states in the region. On the Middle East, Selassie told Herzog that Ethiopia supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Africanews. Herzog, for his part, highlighted the role of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel as a bridge between the two countries.
For Israel, the Ethiopia visit appears to be part diplomacy, part regional positioning. For Ethiopia, it is a balancing act: expand strategic partnerships, but avoid being pulled too far into one of the Horn’s most combustible sovereignty disputes.
