Matthew Gould

Matthew Steven Gould MBE^[1] (born 20 August 1971) is the British ambassador to Israel.

Early life

He grew up in Wembley, and was educated at St Paul's School^[2] where he was a contemporary of George Osborne, and at Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read philosophy and divinity.^[1]

Career

After joining the Foreign Office in 1993, he served as Assistant Desk Officer (NATO/Bosnia), Security Policy Department until 1994; as Second Secretary in Manila from 1994 to 1997; as speechwriter to the Foreign Secretary from 1997 to 1999; and then as Deputy Head of the Consular Division until 2001. From 2002 to 2003 he was Political Counsellor in Islamabad; from 2003 to 2005 Deputy Head of Mission in Tehran; from 2005 to 2007 Foreign and Security Policy Counsellor in Washington DC; from April to July 2007 he was Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs to the Prime Minister; then he was Principal Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary until 2010. He took up his present posting in Tel Aviv in September 2010.^[3]

He is the first Jew to hold his current post.^[4]

Controversies

Gould is reported to have said that he apologised to Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni for the arrest by British authorities in Palestine of her parents, Eitan Livni and Sara Rosenberg.^[5] Eitan Livni was imprisoned for his part in the Night of the Trains, an operation to sabotage railways in which seven people were killed. Sara Rosenberg took part in a train robbery.^[6] It is unclear whether Gould was authorised to make such an apology.

He was implicated in the Liam Fox-Adam Werritty affair, when the O'Donnell report stated he had held two meetings with Fox and Werritty.^[7] Research by Craig Murray later showed that there had in fact been six such meetings.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/24808/interview-the-uks-new-jewish-ambassador-israel
2. ^ http://www.stpaulsschool.org.uk/academic/politics
3. ^ http://ukinisrael.fco.gov.uk/en/about-us/our-embassy/our-ambassador/career-history
4. ^ http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/anglo-file/u-k-s-first-jewish-ambassador-to-israel-gets-in-gear-1.314276
5. ^ http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=211377
6. ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/TLivni.html
7. ^ http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sites/default/files/resources/allegations-fox.pdf
8. ^ http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2011/11/matthew-gould-and-the-plot-to-attack-iran/

Persondata
Name	Gould, Matthew
Alternative names
Short description	Ambassador of the United Kingdom
Date of birth	20 August 1971
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death