Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud

Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud (Somali: Dr. Maxamed Cumar Xaaji Maxamuud, Arabic: محمد عمر حاج محمود ) (born January 1981), also known as Mohamed Hagi, is a Somaliland diplomat, politician and academic currently serving as the First Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Somaliland to Israel. Appointed in February 2026, he is the inaugural head of the Somaliland embassy in Jerusalem the Advisor to the President for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.He previously served as the inaugural Representative of Somaliland to Taiwan from 2020 to 2025, where he established the first diplomatic presence of Somaliland in East Asia. Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud (left) meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (right) on the morning of October 12, 2020.

Prior foreign diplomatic posting, Mohamed was a Senior Political Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Somaliland. Prior to his public career, Mohamed worked as an Executive Director, Programme Manager and a senior policy adviser for international and United Nations agencies in Somaliland and abroad.

Formal education and early life Mohamed was born and raised in Hargeisa. He began his early Mal'amad Qur'an and primary schooling in 1986 in Hargeisa, which was disrupted by the Somali Civil War in 1988. Mohamed continued his primary and intermediate formal education from Sheikh Madar and Biyo Dha'ay schools soon after Somaliland restored its sovereignty from the union with Somalia in 1991. Mohamed studied business administration and project management at local colleges in Hargeisa. He is later sponsored by his wife to the United Kingdom and started his higher education where he studied political science, security studies, and international development and philosophy.

Ambassador to Israel Somaliland President, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, appointed Hagi as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Israel. Following Israel's official acceptance of his appointment in February 2026, Hagi became the first Somalilander to hold the office. Hagi was crucial in transforming the Israel - Somaliland relationship from a discreet engagement to a full diplomatic partnership. He was recognized by Israel as a key architect of the 2025 recognition of Somaliland by Israel. His role as ambassador includes progressing maritime security cooperation, managing technology exchanges and high-level diplomatic tasks. As Ambassador, Hagi, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, has been vested with full authority, privileges, rights, and responsibilities pertaining to the diplomatic post.

Hagi has committed to strengthening strategic ties, creating new opportunities and pursuing a forward-looking vision to increase Somaliland's global presence. He stressed that the partnership with Israel will build on a foundation of cooperation within security, the economy, technology and diplomacy to ensure mutual benefits, regional stability and prosperity.

Academic career Mohamed is a political analyst, and contributes to both Somali and English-speaking media and newspapers. He also published articles on globalization, policy papers on Africa and global trading system, ethnic conflicts in Africa as well as elements of good governance and foreign aid. Other areas of published opinion articles include the homegrown Somaliland peace-building and democracy as well as theories of foreign aid dependency in the least-developed countries. Mohamed worked on his first book on Turkey's Strategic Advantage in Sub-Saharan Africa.