Somali president opens door to Ethiopian port access while rejecting any Israeli presence
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Ethiopia could use one or more Somali ports for sea access, but insists Somalia will never accept an Israeli presence on its territory, including in Somaliland’s Berbera port near the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
Somalia’s president has drawn a clear distinction between how Mogadishu views Ethiopian and Israeli ambitions in the Horn of Africa, signaling potential cooperation with Addis Ababa over sea access while ruling out any Israeli foothold on Somali soil.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said relations between Somalia and Ethiopia "are now in a good place" and acknowledged Ethiopia’s economic need for an outlet to the sea. He said Somalia had not rejected that goal and that there was "no objection to Ethiopia reaching the sea through Somalia, through one, two or three Somali ports" that Ethiopia could use for imports and exports. He did not spell out which ports or what kind of agreements might govern such access.
On Israel, Mohamud took the opposite position. He said Somalia would "never accept the presence of Israel in Somalia under any circumstances" and claimed Israel plans a naval base in Somaliland’s Berbera port, near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. He described Israel as a "destabilising force" and linked its moves to a "Greater Israel" project.
Berbera lies in Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia but lacks international recognition. Any foreign military presence there is politically sensitive for Mogadishu, which still claims sovereignty over the territory and its coastline.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country since Eritrea’s independence, relies heavily on Djibouti’s port and has periodically explored alternative access routes. Mohamud’s comments suggest Somalia could, in principle, offer another path if the two governments can reach terms.
The reference to Berbera and Bab al-Mandeb underscores the wider stakes. The narrow waterway connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a key route for global trade and energy shipments. A reported Israeli naval base there would place Israeli forces close to this chokepoint, which is already affected by other regional conflicts.
Mohamud’s stance suggests Somalia wants closer ties with Ethiopia on economic grounds while aligning with broader regional criticism of Israel’s role in Red Sea security. How that balance holds will depend on whether any concrete port-access deals with Ethiopia emerge and whether reports of Israeli interest in Berbera develop further.
Signals to watch include formal negotiations on Ethiopian use of specific Somali ports, reactions from Somaliland authorities, and any new evidence or denials regarding an Israeli naval presence or plans at Berbera.
Sources
- OSINT