Israel Appoints First Envoy to Somaliland Amid Backlash

Israel has appointed its first diplomatic envoy to Somaliland, the self-declared breakaway region of Somalia, drawing sharp condemnation from more than a dozen Arab and Islamic nations as well as the African Union. The move, announced on Wednesday, escalates tensions following Israel's recognition of Somaliland as an independent state last December, the only country to have done so.

Michael Lotem, who previously served as Israel's ambassador to Kenya, was named as the non-resident envoy to Somaliland. In a reciprocal step, Israel granted diplomatic approval to Mohamed Hagi, a presidential adviser in Somaliland who helped facilitate the recognition, as the region's first ambassador to Israel. Officials described the appointments as part of a growing alliance between the two sides, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu framing the broader relationship in the context of the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and several Arab states.

The appointments prompted a swift international backlash. Foreign ministers from 16 Arab and Islamic countries, including Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Bangladesh, Algeria, Palestine, Turkey,...