Netanyahu thanks Ecuadorian president for opening diplomatic office in Jerusalem

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulates Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on opening a new Innovation Research and Development Center with diplomatic status in Jerusalem.

In a video of the two leaders’ meeting at the premier’s office in Jerusalem, Netanyahu says he and Noboa “decided on very practical things that our experts will work on together to see how we can cooperate.”

He adds that he hopes to do so “as fast as possible because we value your friendship, we value your decision to open an innovation center in Jerusalem.”

“Ecuador and Israel have a great friendship. I look forward to cementing this friendship even further with the decisions we made today in the fields of agriculture, water, defense, security, and others,” Netanyhau says.

Noboa responds that he and his delegation “were received as friends, as allies, and as a nation that cooperates with Israel.”

“For us, it’s simple. We share the same enemies. Our enemies are poverty, terrorism, and suffering — and we are fighting them. We will fight them to the end. You will always have my support, and the friendship of myself and the nation of Ecuador,” the Ecuadorian leader tells Netanyahu, adding that the South American country would be happy to host him for a visit.

Yesterday, President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar held separate meetings with officials from the Noboa’s delegation, among whom are the Ecuadorian foreign, defense, and interior ministers.