Regarding Ahmadinejad, the international community is engaged in a struggle to understand who he is and what his role is.Over the next few days Ahmadinejad will try to meet the US press and there are rumors that he will receive representatives from the Quakers and the Mennonite Church, Dr. Gold noted. "He's trying to become a legitimate world leader." "He should be in the box of a war criminal," not a world leader, Dr. Gold asserted.

Dr. Gold decried the fact that China and Russia are blocking effective action against Ahmadinejad from the international community.

"Many don't believe the Iranian leader said the things he said," Dr. Gold told the audience. Some opinion makers seem to believe that Ahmadinejad's remarks were directed only against the Israeli "regime" and not against Jews or the Israeli people. Dr. Gold cited the work of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs in analyzing and publishing extensive statements by Ahmadinejad over the past several years. A booklet authored by Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum published by JCPA covers this issue.

Dr. Gold noted that Israel is monitoring Hizbollah--"we view them as an extension of Iran's armed forces. Hizbullah was established by the Iranian ambassador to Damascus in the 1980s," he said.

"We have a responsibility to push for genocide prevention and punishment wherever it may be found," Dr. Gold stated.

Responding to a question from the audience, Dr. Gold noted that besides the US and Israel, "the countries in Iran's crosshairs are Bahraina and Kuwait. If the west fails to respond to Iran's incitement the Iranians will feel that they have freedom of action in the Straits of Harmuz." "The price of oil will go far higher than it is today," Dr. Gold warned. "Deterring Iran now so we can prevent a conflict is vital for the security of all of us," he concluded.

Biography of Ambassador Dore Gold

Ambassador Gold is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He was the eleventh Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations (1997-1999). Previously he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu and as as an advisor to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In 1991, he served as an advisor to the Israeli delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference. Ambassador Gold has written numerous books and articles on the Middle East, including U.S. Military Strategy in the Middle East; Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism; and Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos.

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