In a statement to the UN Security Council in New York, the US has defended Israel’s controversial decision to recognise Somaliland as a sovereign state. US Deputy Ambassador to the UN Tammy Bruce told the Council in an emergency meeting that “Israel has the same right to conduct diplomatic relations as any other sovereign state”. She went on to compare how the recognition of the State of Palestine earlier this year warranted no such emergency meeting, saying the Council’s “persistent double standards and misdirection of focus distract from its mission of maintaining international peace and security.”

Israel’s recognition of Somaliland has sparked widespread criticism due to the strategic position of Somaliland on the Horn of Africa and along the Gulf of Aden, close to the entrance to the Bab al-Mandeb,  the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.