Ambassador Dore Gold (born 1954) is a former Israeli diplomat. He is currently President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Early life

Dore Gold was born in Connecticut, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish home. His primary education was spent in Orthodox schools in Hartford and East Hartford. In the 1970s, Gold attended Northfield Mount Hermon School and then Columbia University where he received a BA in 1975, an MA in Political Science in 1976, and a Certificate in Middle East Studies in 1978. In 1980, Gold emigrated to Israel (aliyah).

In 1984, he received a PhD in Political Science and Middle East Studies from his alma mater. His doctoral dissertation was about Saudi Arabia. This research later formed the foundation for his 2003 book, Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism. In the book, Gold argues that the Saudi kingdom actively funds terrorism by supporting the enemies of the U.S. and attacking its allies.

Career

Dore Gold's political career began in 1985 when Gold served as senior research associate at Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Centre for Near East Studies. Later, he was appointed Director of the U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy Project at the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.

In 1991, Gold was an advisor to the Israeli delegation at the Madrid Peace Conference. From June 1996 to June 1997, he served as Foreign Policy Adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As the Foreign Policy Adviser under Netanyahu, Gold worked with the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan and others in the Arab world. He was also involved in negotiations leading up to the Hebron Agreement and the Note for the Record.

From 1997 to 1999, Gold was the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations. In 1998, Gold served as a member of the Israeli delegation at the Wye River negotiations between Israel, the PLO, and then U.S. President Bill Clinton at the Wye River Plantation in Maryland.

Since 2000, Gold has served as president of the non-profit institute, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. From 2002 to the present, Gold has served as an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, most notably at the Aqaba Summit with President George W. Bush. In July of 2003, Gold testified as an expert before the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on Saudi Arabia's alleged role in providing ideological and financial support for international terrorism.

Positions held

• 1985-1996 - Senior research associate, Dayan Centre for Near East Studies. Director, US Foreign and Defense Policy Project at the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
• 1991 - Advisor, Madrid Peace Conference.
• 1996-1997 - Foreign policy advisor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• 1997-1999 - Israeli ambassador, United Nations
• 1998 - Israeli delegation, Wye River negotiations
• 2000-2004 - President, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
• 2002-2004 - Advisor, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

Publications

Books

• Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos (Crown Forum, November, 2004). ISBN 1400054753
• Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism (Regnery, 2003). ISBN 0895261359
• American Military Strategy in the Middle East: The Implications of the US Regional Command Structure (CENTCOM) For Israel (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense Publications), 1993.
• Israel as an American Non-NATO Ally: Parameters of Defense and Industrial Cooperation (Boulder: Westview Press), 1992.

Selected articles

• Wartime Witch Hunt: Blaming Israel for the Iraq War. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. June 1, 2004.
• Saudi Arabia's Dubious Denials of Involvement in International Terrorism. Jerusalem Viewpoints. Oct 1, 2003.
• Saudi Support for International Terrorism. U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs. July 31, 2003.
• The Kingdom of Incitement. Wall Street Journal. April 14, 2003.
• Only Buffer Zones Can Protect Israel. The New York Times. Feb 27, 2002.

Quotes

"...the West's campaign has overlooked a critical component of terrorism -- that is, the precise source of the terror, the ideology that motivates individuals and groups to slaughter thousands of innocent people, and perhaps even to take their own lives."[1]

"Unfortunately Israel has to lose more innocent civilians to prove to the world the necessity and justice of the fence."[2]

Criticism

Sam Miller-Eisenstein

According to Sam Miller-Eisenstein of Jews Against the Occupation, "Dore Gold is an architect of the spin that the killing of Palestinian civilians and the destruction of Palestinian society somehow constitute a battle between two equal sides. This is not a war between Palestinians and Israelis; it’s a brutal occupation. It’s time for people like Gold to stop crying self-defence." [3]

Prince Bandar bin Sultan

In response to Dore Gold's testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Ambassador to the United States, remarked, "It should be known that Dore Gold is not an expert on Saudi society, faith or culture. He is simply hatred's scribe.

"Dore Gold seeks to instill fear and animosity among friends and allies. While others are working to eliminate incitement and promote peace, Dore Gold works to perpetuate hate and conflict. He has opposed virtually every major peace initiative over the past two decades.

"Dore Gold has carried on a campaign of lies, and unsubstantiated accusations. His goal is to malign the Saudi government and drive a wedge between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Ironically, this is the very same objective shared by Osama bin Laden." [4]

See also

• Israeli-Arab conflict
• Hasbara

External links

• Biography of Dore Gold from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
• Biography of Dore Gold from the Jewish Virtual Library
• Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
• Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
• Middle East Institute
• Jewish & Palestine Activists Disrupt Speech by Former Israeli Ambassador
• Prince Bandar responds to remarks by former Israeli official (Saudi Arabia Embassy press release)