By The Media Line Staff

Dore Gold, a distinguished Israeli diplomat, political scientist, and longtime adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passed away on Monday at the age of 71. He will be laid to rest at Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1953, Gold was raised in a Conservative Jewish household and received his early education at the Orthodox Yeshiva of Hartford. He later attended Northfield Mount Hermon School before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science at Columbia University, followed by a doctorate in political science and Middle Eastern studies. He immigrated to Israel in 1980.

Gold’s diplomatic career spanned decades and played a crucial role in shaping Israel’s foreign policy. He served as an adviser to the Israeli delegation at the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, helping to shape the negotiations that followed. In 1996, he became Netanyahu’s foreign policy adviser during his first term as prime minister, engaging in talks with the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan, and other regional actors. The following year, he was appointed Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations, a position he held until 1999. Gold later served as an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and remained an influential voice in Israeli diplomacy.

From 2000 to 2022, Gold led the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (now the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs), where he focused on strategic issues, including efforts to combat Iranian threats against Israel. In 2006, he spearheaded an international initiative urging UN member states to take legal measures against then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for inciting genocide against Israel. Gold also published extensively, including the 2003 book Hatred’s Kingdom, which examined Saudi Arabia’s role in global terrorism.

In 2015, Netanyahu appointed Gold as director-general of the Foreign Ministry, where he played a role in laying the groundwork for the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. Gold resigned from the position in October 2016, citing personal reasons.

He remained engaged in Israeli diplomacy, advocating for stronger US-Israel relations and defending Israel’s international standing.

Gold’s contributions earned praise from Israeli leaders. Netanyahu called him “a prolific academic scholar, a brilliant Israeli diplomat, and a close personal friend,” emphasizing his decades of dedication to public service. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described him as “a model diplomat, paving new paths for Israel’s relations with countries around the world, especially within the Arab sphere.”

Gold is survived by his wife, two children, and six grandchildren.