Matthew Gould is a former British Ambassador to Israel and senior civil servant
At the heart of the Mandelson saga is one colossal political misjudgement – the appointment of Peter Mandelson to the role, despite everything already known about him. Nobody now disputes this. The fault wasn’t in the vetting system but in the decision to announce Peter Mandelson before vetting him It has also become clear, not least
According to the old Farsi proverb, if you want a peacock, you must suffer the hardships of travelling to India. In other words, be careful what you wish for. This is good Persian wisdom that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu should remember before they declare job done and crown themselves the liberators of Iran. Most
Dear Nigel Farage, We haven’t met, but I have a great idea for you. I head the Zoological Society of London. We’re a conservation charity, not party political but dedicated to protecting wildlife. You might approve – we’re a venerable national institution, 200 years old next year and still proud of our royal connections (though so is
I have kept my silence on the Middle East for ten years. I left Israel in 2015, after five years as British ambassador, as the first Jew in the role. Since then, I have turned down every request to be a talking head. Neither the world nor my successors needed another ex-ambassador pundit. But I
