Dore Gold, Israel's former ambassador to the United Nations, has cancelled a planned speech Wednesday evening, Dec. 8, at Congregation Beth El.

Jackie Gmach, program director of the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, which had arranged  his appearance as part of its Distinguished Author Series, said hundreds of ticket holders are now being notified of the cancellation via e-mail

Gmach said the JCC was informed that Gold needed to suspend his speaking tour in the United States to return to Israel for a Likud party meeting.  The Likud confab was called in the wake of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to remove the Shinui party from his ruling coalition. Members of the Knesset belonging to the Shinui party on Dec. 1  had refused to vote for Sharon's budget proposal, resulting in the measure's defeat.

The shakeup left Sharon's coalition with only 40 of the 120 member of the Knesset—fewer than the 61-member majority required. The meeting of Likud, to which both Sharon and Gold belong, will weigh whether to seek a coalition with such other parties as Labor or to call for new elections.

Gold had been scheduled to speak on his book, Tower of Babble: How the United Nations Has Fueled Global Chaos,  in his Congregation Beth El address.  Besides being a former U.N. ambassador, Gold had served as a foreign policy adviser to Israel's former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had been a predecessor as Israel's United Nations ambassador.

Tickets had been sold for $10 through the JCC box office, with representatives of some 20 co-sponsoring organizations selling the tickets at a $2 discount. Gmach said refunds will available and that ticket holders also will be given a special opportunity to purchase Gold's book.
                                                                                                           —Donald H. Harrison