2987. 🇬🇬 Guernsey Post To Issue Fourteen Stamps For Christmas 2026.

 

New issues -

🇬🇬 Guernsey Post -

Issue inscribed Guernsey -

2 November 2026 - Christmas, local interpretation of the nativity - 7 stamps. Designed by Charlie Buchanan and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- ***.

Issue inscribed Alderney

2 November 2026 - Christmas angels - 7 self-adhesive stamps.. Designed by Chloe Sarre and lithographed by bpost. Rating:- ***.

18 November2026 - 110th anniversary of the battle of the Somme, Guernsey’s contribution - 4 stamps. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

And so, to a more  recent conflict -

🇮🇱 Israel Post -

This edition of Commonwealth Stamps Opinion is posted on 7 October 2026 which marks the third anniversary of the massacre in Israel of at least 1195 people - including 828 civilians and 38 children - and the taking of a large number of hostages by terrorist Palestinian groups including Hamas and other Islamist organisations. This act of terrorism in turn led to Israeli forces attacking the Hamas militants with the result that thousands of Palestinians in Gaza died during the ensuing war. Although there has been no stamp issue this year referring to the terrorist assault on innocent Israeli civilians, Israel Post did issue a single stamp one year ago to remember the victims of the terrorist attack of 7 October 2023 and to remind the world of the act of infamy which had the most severe consequences for the perpetrators and innocents alike.

2974. 🇮🇱 Israel Post Issues During 2026.

 

New issues -

🇮🇱 Israel Post -

11 August 2026 - ‘Festivals 2026’, Tales of the Tzaddikim (Jewish sages and spiritual leaders) - 3 stamps with tabs. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

11 August 2026 - 50th anniversary of Operation Entebbe in which Israeli commandos rescued hostages held by terrorists aboard an airplane in Entebbe Airport in Uganda - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

11 August 2026 - 90th anniversary of the Graphic Design Association of Israel - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

11 August 2026 - Summer camps in Israel - 3 stamps with tabs. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

7 July 2026 - 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence by Britain’s north American colonists -  1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

24 June 2026 - Centenary of the International Philatelic Federation - 1 miniature sheet containing a single stamp. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

19 May 2026 - 75th anniversary of the introduction of Israel Bonds - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

19 May 2026 - The synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- ***.

19 May 2026 - 50th anniversary of the Israeli Centre for Libraries - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

19 May 2026 - Centenary of the City of Afula - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- **

20 April 2026 - Memorial Day commemorating fallen Israeli military and civilians killed by terrorists - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

20 April 2026 - Lag BaOmer, Jewish festival - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:-***.

12 February 2026 - Commemoration of Shlomo Hillal, diplomat and politician - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed, Rating:- **.

12 February 2026 - 30th anniversary of the Yahalom Unit, elite military unit - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:-***.

12 February 2026 - Nature reserves - 3 stamps with tabs. Lithographed. Rating:- ****.

12 February 2026 - Operation DUGO, cultural and remembrance event held to honour the survivors of the Holocaust and the death marches from Auschwitz concentration camp where approximately 1 million Jewish people were murdered by the Germans during the Second World War - 1 stamp with tab. Lithographed. Rating:- *****.

The 12 February 2026 - Bridges of Israel - 2 stamps with tabs issued as a se-tenant pair. Lithographed. Rating:- **.

Automatic teller machine stamps (ATMs) - Tanks of the Israeli Defence Force - 

19 May 2026 - 2 stamps -

12 February 2026 - 1 stamp - 

  Britain became involved in the Middle East area of conflict of the First World War in order to defeat the Ottoman Empire which was an ally of the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. As such the British played a major part in helping the Arabs to liberate themselves from centuries of Ottoman rule but also became involved in the eventual establishment of a Jewish state when in November 1917, Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary and former prime minister from 1902 to 1905, wrote to Lord Rothschild, the figurehead leader of the British Jewish community, in which he wrote, “I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to and approved by the cabinet”. Balfour went on to write, “His Majesty’s government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavours to facilitate this achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights or political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.

   A copy of Balfour’s letter, which became known as the Balfour Declaration, can be seen at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, the former home of the Rothschilds. It is small in size but enormous in the effects it has had on 20th and 21st century history. The Israeli postal service issued stamps to  commemorate both the 50th and 100th anniversaries of the Balfour Declaration (see illustrations below).

Balfour’s letter to Rothschild, a historic letter of the utmost importance and significance:-

  British forces captured Jerusalem from the Ottomans in December 1917 and began a military administration in Palestine and then, in April 1920 the United Kingdom was awarded a mandate to administer Palestine and this was officially agreed by the League of Nations in July 1922. 

After the end of the Second World War, the United Kingdom government, in the face of Jewish insurgency in Palestine, declared the territory to be ungovernable and handed the problem over to the United Nations which voted in November 1947 to partition the territory into separate Jewish and Arab states with Jerusalem under joint International administration. While the Jewish leaders accepted the plan, Arab leaders rejected it. There was immediate civil war and Britain withdrew its troops on 14 May 1948 with effective termination of the United Kingdom’s mandate at midnight on 15 May, hence triggering the Arab-Israeli war of 1948.

  There have been many philatelic consequences of the events which occurred from 1917 onwards and many are reflected in the continuing stamp issues from Israel Post and so new issues will now be featured here in future editions of Commonwealth Stamps Opinion.

2842. 🇸🇴 Somaliland Finally Receives International Recognition (By Israel) But Still No Stamps.

 

🇸🇴 Somaliland Recognised By Israel.

  The former British protectorate of British Somaliland which declared itself to be the independent state of Somaliland on 18 May 1991 and since then, apart from a functioning postal service, has been a fully operative de facto sovereign state, has finally received its first recognition as an independent state by the government of Israel (also of course a former British protectorate, then known as Palestine).

  Somaliland had previously been a sovereign state from 26 June 1960, when it received its independence from the United Kingdom, until 1 July 1960 when it was absorbed into the Republic of Somalia, after Italian Somaliland had received its independence from Italy. A rebellion against the communist dictator of Somalia, Siad Barre, began in Somaliland in May 1988 and Barre was overthrown in January 1991 and the result was violent chaos right across Somalia and Somaliland’s secession from Somalia on 18 May 1991 as mentioned above. Since then, Somaliland has remained separate and relatively peaceful and sought international recognition but without success until 26 December 2025 when the Israeli government announced its formal recognition of Somaliland as a fully independent sovereign state. Given Somaliland’s strategic location at the mouth of the Red Sea, Israel doubtless sees influence with the breakaway state as being highly advantageous to it but this represents an important step in Somaliland becoming Africa’s 55th country and, who knows, developing a postal service which actually issues postage stamps. Will any African states now follow? Look out for recognition by Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

Independent Somaliland’s only 3 stamps (issued 26 June 1960) -

post scriptum - the flag emoji shows the flag of Somalia, no emoji of Somaliland’s flag is available. This is also true of Turkish Cyprus, Alderney (but one exists for Sark), British Antarctic Territory, Tristan Da Cunha and Ascension.

🇮🇴 Chagosians form a government in exile.

With the British Indian Ocean Territory (the Chagos Islands) still not yet under Mauritian sovereignty (though if the Starmer government has its way, it soon will be despite the objections of those of Chagossian descent) the Chagossians formed a ‘government-in-exile’ on 17 December 2025 with Midley Mandarin as interim First Minister. Philatelically, it will be interesting to see where this one goes - will, for instance, the Chagossian government-in-exile issue propaganda stamps to highlight its cause as the Tibetan government-in-exile did after the Dalai Lama was exiled in India (two sets of four - the first issued in 1972 and the second in 1974)? They were very collectable and historically interesting even though their significance as postage stamps was highly questionable. The story of the Chagos Islands may not yet have reached the final page, even in the stamp album.

Midley Mandarin, interim Chief Minister of Chagos government-in-exile

Commonwealth countries which are not known to have issued, or had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2025 -

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda 

Belize 

British Indian Ocean Territory 

British Virgin Islands

Cameroon

Cayman Islands

Cook Islands including Rarotonga 

Cook Islands Aitutaki 

Cook Islands Penrhyn

Dominica

Gabon

Ghana 

Grenada Carriacou and Petite Martinique 

Kingdom of eSwatini 

Lesotho 

Montserrat 

Nauru

Nevis

Nigeria

Niue

Papua New Guinea 

Rwanda

St Kitts or St Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

St Vincent and The Grenadines

Solomon Islands

Tokelau 

Tonga

Tonga Niuafo’ou

Turks and Caicos Islands 

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Republic of Tanzania 

Vanuatu 

Zambia

Therefore at the end of the year 36 out of 89 (40.5%) Commonwealth philatelic entities are not known to have issued, or had issued on their behalf, any legitimate postage stamps during 2025. This compares with the figure for 2024 at the end of that year of 28 out of 89 or 31.5%.

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