Somalia committed to military intervention against Israel in the Six-day war

As Somalia geared up for a presidential election in 1967 war broke between a coalition of Arab states and Israel. Somalia came down on the Arab side

As Somalia’s government geared up for presidential elections in 1967 – the first in which an African head of state would voluntarily step down after electoral defeat – a war broke out in the Middle East between Israel and a coalition of Arab states. We refer to it today as the Six-day war which saw Israeli forces capture east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Sinai and crucially the West Bank and Gaza.

The war broke out on June 5, 1967, just four days before the Somali presidential election, prompting Somali elites to consider whether the election should proceed it and whether they should get involved with the war. The answer in the end was yes to both.

At the insistence of the president, Aden Abdulle Osman, they concluded that the war wasn’t related directly to Somalia’s domestic political situation and so the election should proceed. Out of feelings of religious solidarity however they also committed Somalia to military intervention on the side of the coalition of Arab states against Israel. This decision took place several years before Somalia formally joined the Arab League in 1974. The declaration was symbolic, as the Somali armed forces (SAF) were small, not well-trained, and poorly equipped. As the passage points out, the SAF didn’t even have the ability to deploy to combat zones. It was a declaration of war for the shits and giggles as a friend of mine put it.

The passage I’m sharing below is from Mohamed Isa Trunji’s Somalia: The Untold History 1941-1969. It provides interesting snapshot into how an event of global proportions played out in Mogadishu.

Citing the military confrontation in the Middle East as a justification, the President of the National Assembly and the Prime Minister advanced the idea of putting off the presidential election at least to June 20, arguably to monitor the situation in the Middl East. The President [Aden Abdulle Osman], however, did not share this idea: "No, no, no, I see no link between what is happening in the Middle East and the presidential election here in Somalia." On the one hand, the government received unanimous support from the National Assembly for its policy over the Arab-Israeli conflict, including the decision to intervene militarily against Israel, a move seen by many as an empty promise and a dangerous adventure. 

Since Somalia had become independent in 1960, its foreign policy was determinedly non-interventionist and its Constitution repudiates war as a means of settling international disputes (Art. 6 (2) of the 1960 Constitution). Its armed forces had seen little action at home and even less abroad. While nobody has provided an explanation of what irremissible national interest pushed Somalia to join a war it had nothing to do with, the risk involved was high, because Israel was legally entitled to militarily attack Somalia as a belligerent party. This blunder became more evident when the government sent a long letter to Ethiopia requesting authorization to overfly its air space in order to transport combat troops destined to fight on the Arabs' side. This request was ridiculed, coming as it did at a time when Ethiopia was refusing over flight rights even to Somali commercial aircrafts making service between Mogadishu and Hargeisa. Ethiopia is known to have taken a neutral stand vis-a-vis the military conflict taking place in the Middle East. 

No one in the National Assembly showed the wisdom or courage to voice dissent, despite the abundant arguments available. As to the public at large, nobody seemed to take seriously the bravado displayed by a government who was at the time on the brink of being voted out of office. A show of moral solidarity for the Arabs is understandable, but fighting on their side was dangerous stupidity. Records show that in 1956, following the Anglo-Franco-Israeli aggression against Egypt, the Somali government reacted in a reasonable manner that was much less risky to the country. The government introduced a motion to the Legislative Assembly condemning the aggression and expressing solidarity with the government and the people of Egypt; the motion was adopted by acclamation in November 1956. The solidarity shown by the Somali public to the Egyptian people, seen as victims of aggression, was so strong that by the end of December 1956 an amount of Sh.So 83,000 (Somali Shillings) was collected for the Port Said victims. "Lists of subscribers were published in the government newspaper, the Corriere della Somalia, each time under a heading referring to the Martyrs of Port Said."