Somaliland's Minister of the Presidency Khadar Hussein Abdi said the breakaway region was advancing talks with Israel for a strategic security partnership that could involve Israel building a military base, Bloomberg reported on March 11. Two of Somaliland's officials talking on condition of anonymity confirmed that their government would allow Israel to use Somaliland's territory to gather intelligence on and conduct operations against Yemen's Houthis.

Israel became the first U.N. member to recognize Somaliland as an independent state in December 2025, largely with a view to strengthening its operations against the Houthis in Yemen. Even in the absence of a formal agreement, Israel may already be running covert intelligence-gathering operations against the Houthis from Somaliland.