Israel’s Top Diplomat Heads to Ecuador in LatAm Trade Push

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is heading to Ecuador to open trade negotiations and deepen security cooperation with President Daniel Noboa, Ecuador’s foreign minister Gabriela Sommerfeld announced Wednesday in an interview with Teleamazonas.

Sommerfeld called the visit a historic milestone. No Israeli official of that rank has ever set foot in Ecuador, she said. Saar will meet Noboa in Guayaquil to sign an economic framework agreement that kicks off formal trade talks aimed at opening the Israeli market to Ecuadorian exports.

A separate security pact with Ecuador‘s Interior Ministry is also on the agenda, building on intelligence-sharing arrangements Noboa has pursued as the country battles Latin America’s highest homicide rate and powerful drug trafficking networks.

Deepening ties

The relationship has accelerated fast. In May 2025, Noboa became the first Ecuadorian president to visit Israel, meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opening an innovation and trade office with diplomatic status in Jerusalem. Ecuador also designated Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as terrorist organizations.

Bilateral trade remains modest. Israel exported roughly $45 million to Ecuador in 2022, mostly pesticides, fertilizers and machinery. Ecuador sent back about $11 million, mainly processed fruits, fish and grains. A trade deal could change those numbers by lowering tariff barriers on both sides, following the model of the Israel-Costa Rica free trade agreement signed in December 2025 that eliminated over 90% of tariffs immediately.

The bigger picture

Saar’s Ecuador trip is the latest stop in an Israeli diplomatic offensive across Latin America. Since late 2025, Israel has signed a free trade agreement with Costa Rica, restored diplomatic relations with Bolivia after a two-year freeze, visited Paraguay and Argentina, and launched the Isaac Accords initiative modeled on the Abraham Accords to build economic and security partnerships across the region.

Saar himself declared 2026 the year of Latin America for Israeli diplomacy. For Noboa, who won reelection in April 2025 and runs a pro-business administration closely aligned with Washington, the calculation is simpler: a country fighting cartels with limited resources is betting that Israeli intelligence, defense technology and market access are worth the diplomatic alignment that comes with them. This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of Ecuador affairs and Latin American financial news.

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