Ecuador is set to open an innovation office in Jerusalem that will have diplomatic status, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Tuesday night after a call with his counterpart in the South American country.
In the call with Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld, Sa’ar “praised Ecuador’s intention to open an innovation office with diplomatic status in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people,” he wrote on X.
In October 2024, Knesset lawmakers passed a law stipulating that only embassy-level diplomatic missions be opened in Jerusalem, a move meant to reaffirm the city’s status as the Jewish state’s capital.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry did not respond by time of publication to a JNS query about whether the law affects the opening of offices with diplomatic status.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to move the American embassy to Israel’s capital in 2018 set the stage for other countries to follow suit. Six countries currently have their embassies in Jerusalem—the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.
Last month, the South Pacific island nation of Fiji announced it had approved plans to inaugurate an embassy in Jerusalem later this year.
“I commend the Republic of Fiji’s government for its historic decision to open an embassy in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Thank you, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, friend of Israel. Thank you Fiji!” Sa’ar tweeted in response to Suva’s announcement on Feb. 18.
