First Jewish British ambassador to Israel set to arrive
New British Ambassador Matthew Gould is "excited" to begin posting in Israel, succeeds previous UK ambassador Sir Tom Phillips.
By RONEN SHNIDMAN311_UK ambassador Gould(photo credit: Courtesy of British Embassy )
The new British ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould and his wife Celia are expected to arrive in Israel late overnight Saturday.Gould is the first Jewish ambassador to represent Great Britain in Israel. He sounded very upbeat ahead of his arrival in the country.RELATED:Opinion: Drifting away from IsraelUK’s ambassador to Israel knighted in queen’s birthday honor "My wife and I are hugely excited to be going to live in Israel,” said Gould in a video clip recorded ahead of his departure from London. He added, “I’m going to be dealing with issues that matter to the UK, but also to the whole world … I’m going to be living in one of the world’s most extraordinary places – a country with an amazing culture, an extraordinary history and one of the world’s most high-tech economies.”One of Gould's many previous positions included a posting as deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Teheran, where he visited the city's synagogues and regularly kept in touch with the local Jewish community.Ambassador Gould succeeds Sir Tom Phillips, who recently took up his new position as British ambassador to Saudi Arabia.Phillips was appointed a KCMG (Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George) by the Queen Elizabeth and left Israel after serving four years as ambassador.Jonny Paul contributed to this report.
