Israel ambassador to U.N. strikes 'Gold' with talk

Ambassador Dore Gold discussed the Arab-Israel peace process and Israel's future goals at Meyerson Hall yesterday. If the famous adage, "you can't come home again" is indeed true, then Dore Gold has defied it. After living in Israel for more than 20 years, serving as a diplomat, negotiator and adviser, Gold -- who was born and raised in the United States -- was named Israeli ambassador to the United Nations last August. He has since brought his years of experience, most recently as chief foreign policy adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, back to the United States --Eand, yesterday, the Penn campus. In a speech last night to more than 100 students, faculty members and staff in Meyerson Hall, Gold -- who spoke on the floor of the U.N. General Assembly earlier in the day -- discussed current problems facing the Arab-Israeli peace process and explained Israel's goals for moving the process forward. After the speech, which included a question-and-answer session with the audience, Gold discussed the unique perspective he gained after having spent lengthy periods of time in both Israel and the United States. "It's sort of like a time tunnel, to be back here," Gold said. "It isn't 1975, when I last left, but I think the diversity of experience in diplomacy helps you operate in the United Nations system." The ambassador also emphasized the need for unity among the Jewish people of Israel and of the world, rejecting the proposition made by much of Israel's Orthodox Jewish community that Reform or Conservative Jews should not be recognized as Jewish. In Israel, the Orthodox rabbinate currently controls most of the nation's religious functions, having the sole right, for example, to perform marriages or conversions. "At this time in Israel's history, when we are about to enter into the most critical negotiation Israel has ever had, to have a rift inside the Jewish people? is an act of historical irresponsibility," he said. Throughout the speech -- which mainly dealt with the nature of the ongoing Middle East peace negotiations -- Gold explained the duality of the effects of the peace process on Israel. While opening relations and negotiating with former Arab enemies has created new economic opportunities and prospects for trade, Gold pointed out that there has been an "unprecedented upsurge in terrorism." In the past two years, he noted, Arab terrorism has killed as many people in Israel as in the entire previous decade. Although Gold said the peace process has thus far worsened Israel's security, he stressed the nation must remain committed to the process. He added, however, that they must "find their negotiating partners accountable for the fact that terrorism is emanating from their borders." A lasting peace cannot be achieved without requiring Arab nations and the quasi-sovereign Palestinian Authority to take measures to increase Israeli security before Israel grants them any concessions, Gold explained. The ambassador pointed out the lack of Palestinian compliance with a single agreement made in the Jan. 15, 1997 "note for the record" -- an extension of the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed in Hebron. Israel, he said, has implemented every provision agreed upon in Hebron. Palestinian leaders, however, blame Israel for the current deadlock in negotiations, accusing Israel of failing to fulfill promises of further withdrawals in the West Bank. For the peace process to succeed, Gold said the parties themselves must resolve their differences without depending on the involvement of other parties, such as the United States or the European Union. Gold said that he suspects that Palestinian authorities have "no interest in what is doable in the short run," referring to the Palestinian rejection of many Israeli concessions. But Gold expressed optimism that with the "backing of our close friends, especially the U.S., we can still build a much more peaceful Middle East."