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Somalia will not accept an Israeli presence in the country “under any circumstances,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, warning against attempts to draw Somalia into Middle East conflicts.
Mohamud said Israel plans to establish a naval base in Berbera and use the city’s airport, arguing that its broader aim is to move closer to Gulf states and Iran.
“We will overcome the challenges posed to our country by Israeli moves,” Mohamud said.
Berbera is a port city on the Gulf of Aden coast in Somaliland, the breakaway region in northwestern Somalia that Israel recognized last year but that Mogadishu considers an integral part of Somali territory.
Mohamud said the alleged Israeli plans were connected to what he described as the “Greater Israel” project, a term used for various proposals calling for Israeli control over territory beyond its current borders.
Some versions of the concept extend from the Nile to the Euphrates. Israel has not adopted it as official policy, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an August 2025 interview that he felt connected to the vision, prompting criticism from Arab governments.
Mohamud described Israel as a "destabilizing force” that does not abide by international law and criticized its recognition of Somaliland in December.
He said Somaliland’s residents also oppose an Israeli presence.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has governed itself independently for more than three decades. Israel became the first U.N. member state to recognize it.
Berbera lies across the water from Yemen near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, where the Iran-aligned Houthis have previously enforced a blockade on Israel-linked ships.
Mohamud also told Al Jazeera that the U.S. remains Somalia’s strongest partner in the fight against terrorism.
He said al-Shabab has no presence in Somalia’s major cities and argued there is no possibility of the group taking control of the country.
Al-Shabab emerged from the Islamic Courts Union in the mid-2000s and pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2012. The group has fought Somalia’s federal government for years, controls territory in parts of southern and central Somalia, and has carried out deadly attacks in Mogadishu and neighboring Kenya.
On regional relations, Mohamud said Somalia’s ties with neighboring Ethiopia are good.
He said Mogadishu does not object to Ethiopia gaining access to the sea through a joint agreement allowing it to use Somali ports for economic purposes.
Ethiopia has been landlocked since Eritrea became independent in 1993 and relies largely on Djibouti’s ports for trade.
In January 2024, Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding with Somaliland on sea access, which Somalia condemned as a violation of its sovereignty.
Somalia and Ethiopia later agreed to ease tensions.
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