22 Facts About Dennis Ross

Dennis B Ross was born on November 26,1948 and is an American diplomat and author.

Dennis Ross was born in San Francisco and grew up in Belvedere, California.

Dennis Ross graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in 1970 and did graduate work there, writing a doctoral dissertation on decision-making in the Soviet Union.

Dennis Ross returned briefly to academia in the 1980s, serving as executive director of the Berkeley-Stanford program on Soviet international behavior from 1984 to 1986.

Bush, Dennis Ross was director of the United States State Department's Policy Planning Staff, working on US policy toward the former Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany and its integration into NATO, arms control, and the 1991 Gulf War.

Dennis Ross worked with Secretary of State James Baker on convincing Arab and Israeli leaders to attend the 1991 Middle East peace conference in Madrid, Spain.

Dennis Ross helped the Israelis and Palestinians reach the 1995 Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and brokered the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron in 1997.

Dennis Ross headed a team of several people in the Office of the Special Middle East Coordinator, including his deputy Aaron David Miller, Robert Malley, Jon Schwarz, Gamal Helal, and Daniel Kurtzer.

Dennis Ross was criticized by people on both sides of the conflict.

Dennis Ross became chair of the Jerusalem-based think tank, the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, funded and founded in 2002 by the Jewish Agency for Israel, the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization.

Dennis Ross wrote frequently for publications like The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, The New Republic, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal and worked as a foreign affairs analyst for the Fox News channel.

Dennis Ross was a noted supporter of the Iraq war and he signed two Project for a New American Century letters in support of the war in March 2003.

Dennis Ross opposed Bush's policy of avoiding direct talks with Iran.

Dennis Ross was appointed Special Advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on February 23,2009.

On June 25,2009 the White House announced that Dennis Ross was leaving the State Department to join the National Security Council staff as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for the Central Region, with overall responsibility for the region.

For example, in both September and November 2010, Dennis Ross was said to have tried to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction during negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority, in exchange for unspecified private assurances and a major military arms transfer from the United States.

Palestinian officials reportedly viewed Dennis Ross as beholden to the Israeli government, and not as an honest broker or even-handed facilitator of negotiations.

On November 10,2011, Dennis Ross stepped down from his post in the Obama administration.

Dennis Ross rejoined The Washington Institute as William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, Counselor, Irwin Levy Family Program on the US-Israel Strategic Relationship.

Dennis Ross currently serves on the advisory board for the non-profit America Abroad Media.

Dennis Ross wrote part of Barack Obama's speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee during the 2008 Presidential campaign, and the speech stated that "Jerusalem is Israel's capital" and that it should not be divided again.

Dennis Ross is currently on the advisory board of UANI as well as the Counter Extremism Project.