Daniel "Danny" Gold (born in 1962) is the head of the Israeli Directorate of Defense Research & Development (DDR&D) and a

Tat Aluf ''Aluf'' ( he, אלוף, lit=champion or "First\leader of a group" in Biblical Hebrew; ) is a senior military rank in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) for officers who in other countries would have the rank of general, air marshal, or admiral ...

(

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

) in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

. Additionally, he serves as the head of the National Technological Center for Combatting the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

at the

Israeli Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defense ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַבִּטָּחוֹן, Misrad HaBitahon, Ministry of Security, acronym: he, משהב"ט) of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Isra ...

Biography and career

Danny Gold was born and raised in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. His parents, Aviva and Avraham, were

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

who immigrated to Israel from

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. He completed his studies in

Electronic Engineering Electronics engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early 20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor devices to amplify and control electric current ...

at the Technion and in 1983 began his service in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

, where he held positions in electronics, munitions, and electronic warfare. He later served in the DDR&D in various roles, including head of the Electronic Warfare Systems Department and head of the Research and Development Unit. Among his notable contributions was the development of the

Iron Dome Iron Dome ( he, כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, Kippat Barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short- ...

missile defense system, which he worked on even before the project's approval. This work of his was originally critiqued by the states comptroller. For his work, he received the

Israel Defense Prize The Israel Defense Prize (Hebrew: פרס בטחון ישראל), also known as the Israel Defense Award is an award presented annually by the President of Israel to people and organizations who made significant contributions to the defense of the ...

in September 2012. In 2014, he completed his service in the IDF with the rank of Brigadier General and founded the company "Gold Technology and Entrepreneurship". In April 2016 he was appointed as the head of DDR&D. In March 2020 he established the National Technological Center for Combatting the

in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense, the defense industry, the local tech industry, the IDF, and academic institutions, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, hospitals, the National Health Insurance, the Mossad, and other entities, to find solutions related to the virus in various fields. The teams that were formed implemented a wide range of technologies. In June 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the

Ruppin Academic Center Ruppin Academic Center (), also known as Ruppin College, is a college in Israel, which has the status of an institutional settlement. It was established in 1949, is named after Arthur Ruppin, and is located near the moshav Kfar Monash, and withi ...

. Gold holds two doctoral degrees from

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, in electronic engineering and business administration (specializing in technology management). In 2015, he was chosen to light a torch at the Independence Day Torch Lighting Ceremony.

Personal life

Gold is married and a father of two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gold, Daniel Living people 1962 births Israeli military personnel Israeli civil servants Military personnel from Tel Aviv