Israeli Minister Ayoob Kara. Photo: Remi Jouan via Wikimedia Commons.

An Israeli government minister met in Ecuador this week with representatives of several nations with which the Jewish state does not have diplomatic relations — including Oman, Qatar and Yemen — the Hebrew news site nrg reported on Thursday.

The encounters were “cordial” and revealed a “desire from all parties to move forward and start diplomatic negotiations,” Ayoob Kara — a Druze member of the Likud Party and a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office — was quoted as saying.

According to Kara, a topic of discussion was US President Donald Trump’s bid to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

“President Trump and [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu are coordinated on every step of the diplomatic initiative in the Middle East and progress has been made on the matter,” he said.

Associates of Kara told nrg there has “been a different spirit” regarding Israel’s contacts with its neighbors in the region since Trump started engaging in peacemaking efforts.