Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime foreign policy advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose diplomatic expertise was credited with moving the Abraham Accords forward — died on Monday in Jerusalem from an undisclosed illness. He was 71. 

Born in Hartford, Conn., Gold made aliyah in 1980 after receiving a doctoral degree from Columbia University. He went on to break barriers for olim by serving at the highest levels of the Israeli government — positions that included director-general of the Foreign Ministry, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations and political advisor to two prime ministers, Ariel Sharon and Netanyahu. 

Netanyahu, who continued throughout the years to receive advice — both formally and informally — from Gold, eulogized him as “a prolific academic researcher, brilliant Israeli diplomat and close personal friend.” 

“Dore accompanied me for over three decades as a dedicated public servant without peer,” Netanyahu said. “He was endowed with a unique intellectual integrity, working ability and a genuine love for the State of Israel.” Gold served as Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor for a year beginning in June 1996, during the prime minister’s first term. 

Netanyahu also said Gold contributed to the Abraham Accords, the 2020 normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab countries. Gold, who was serving as president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs at the time, played a mostly behind-the-scenes role in the deal. After the rollout, Gold told the Jerusalem Post that he spent two years fielding “dual invitations” from the U.S. and Israel to reach an agreement. 

Ron Dermer, who served as Israeli ambassador to the United States from 2013-’21, remembered Gold as a “man of decency and integrity, whom I was proud to call a friend,” and a Zionist with “prodigious knowledge, sharp mind and diplomatic creativity.”  

The two worked together for over 25 years, Dermer reflected in a statement. “The Jewish people owe Dore Gold a debt of gratitude,” he said. 

From 1997-’99, Gold served as Israel’s U.N. ambassador. In that role, he was part of the Israeli delegation to the Wye Plantation Conference, where President Bill Clinton brought together Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Gold authored several books about the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Iranian threat — including Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism; The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West and The Fight for Jerusalem: Radical Islam, the West, and the Future of the Holy City.

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