(Communicated by the President’s Spokesperson)
President Isaac Herzog this morning (Sunday, 4 May 2025), held a diplomatic meeting with President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador, making his first visit to Israel, during which he will officially open his country’s new Innovation Research and Development Center in Jerusalem.
President Herzog welcomed President Noboa, and congratulated him on his recent re-election. He said, “You are the president of a great friend, the nation of Ecuador. Ecuador has incredible relations with Israel – for many years – and with the current President, I’m sure it will be increased dramatically, especially focusing on issues of security which are so important to our nations. Both our nations are challenged dramatically on the frontiers of security: internal security, when it comes to Ecuador and external security as it comes to Israel.”
He added, “We are very grateful, Mr. President, for declaring the opening of your representative office in Jerusalem, which will be a diplomatic representative office. It is a huge step forward, and we are grateful for this bold step.”
President Herzog stressed the important need to bring all the hostages home and said, “This is a huge challenge, we need to bring our hostages back home. This is a stain on humanity, which also impacts the future of the region and the ability of our nations, Israel and its neighbors, to move forward towards peace, but most importantly, it’s a human tragedy and a flagrant violation of every law of human rights.”
President Noboa thanked the President and said, “Thank you for your kind words, hospitality and positive feelings about this relationship. We as a nation, we advocate for peace, but we understand sometimes that peace has to be attained through strength. Today we also experienced a war. We live in a war against terrorism, against people that want to change our way of life also, and live in fear. We respect and value your expertise in technology and defense, we would like to work together. We can work together for the peace in our region as well.”
President Noboa reiterated the importance of securing the release of the hostages and said, “We need to bring your citizens back home. And we cannot have a situation like this in the 21st Century.”
