Mr. Hersi Ali Haji Hassan , tells Al Jazeera that Hargeisa had ‘no choice’ but to seek recognition from Tel Aviv after 34 years of isolation.
A senior official from Somaliland’s governing party ( Chairman)has fiercely defended the decision to normalise relations with Israel, dismissing widespread condemnation from the Arab and Muslim world as hypocritical.
In a heated interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher on Wednesday, Hersi Ali Haji Hassan, chairman of the ruling Waddani party, argued that Somaliland was forced to look to Israel for legitimacy after being ignored by the international community for decades..
The comments follow a controversial visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Hargeisa, the region’s largest city and “capital”, earlier this week – the first since Israel recognised the region’s independence in late December.
“We are not in a position to choose,” Hassan told Al Jazeera. “We are in a state of necessity for official international recognition.
“There is no choice before us but to welcome any country that recognises our existential right,” he added
