Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Friday that the Jewish state recognized Somaliland, becoming the first country to recognize the self-declared Horn of Africa nation.

“This declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords, signed at the initiative of President Trump,” the Israeli premier said. (Washington doesn’t recognize Somaliland as an independent state.)

Netanyahu, who said that he and Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, signed a “joint and mutual declaration” with Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, Somaliland president, stated that he invited the latter to visit Israel.

“The State of Israel plans to immediately expand its relations with the Republic of Somaliland through extensive cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health, technology and economy,” he said.

“Somaliland’s moment has arrived,” the state’s foreign affairs and international cooperation ministry stated. “Momentum is building.”

“Over the past year, based on an extensive and ongoing dialogue, relations between Israel and Somaliland have taken shape,” Sa’ar said.

The minister said that the agreement establishes “full diplomatic relations, which will include the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of embassies.”

“We will work together to promote the relations between our countries and nations, regional stability and economic prosperity,” Sa’ar said. “I have instructed my ministry to act immediately to institutionalize ties between the two countries across a wide range of fields.”

Daniel Mariaschin, CEO of B’nai B’rith International, told JNS that “while much of the diplomatic world works overtime to shun and demean Israel, it now finds, in its criticism of Israel’s recognition of Somaliland, a new reason to pile on.”

“If recognition and the development of relations leads to amplifying the Abraham Accords, today’s move can only be seen as a step toward building stability in the region and beyond,” Mariaschin told JNS.

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that “for those mocking why Israel would engage Somaliland, look at the map.”

“Somaliland sits on the Gulf of Aden, next to the Bab el-Mandeb—a chokepoint for global trade and energy. Across the water are Iran-backed Houthis firing on Israel and shipping,” he said. “Somaliland offers stability, ports, intelligence access and a non-Iranian platform on the Red Sea.”

“Similar reason why the U.S. has a military base in Djibouti,” he said.

“Somaliland is also the only stable and relatively successful state in the region, that is self-sustaining and doesn’t rely on international aid or international peacekeeping to govern,” stated Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former international spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces.

“A rare success story in a very failing area,” he said.

David Makovsky, distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and director of its Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations, stated that it is “hard to avoid the question: does Israel’s recognition of Somaliland today open the door—formally or informally—to access to military facilities there, aimed at countering Houthi drones and missiles from nearby Yemen across the Gulf of Aden?”

“Houthi attacks on Israel in this theater are new over the last year. Israel’s move looks like a diplomatic step, but one driven by what seems to be a security rationale and unclear if it will be escalatory,” he stated.

“The Houthis openly declare on their very flag: ‘God is the greatest. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse upon the Jews. Victory to Islam,’” he added. “Their flag is not exactly stars and stripes.”

Aaron Bandler contributed to this article.