30 Facts About Yossi Cohen

Yosef "Yossi" Meir Cohen is an Israeli intelligence officer.

Yossi Cohen rose to lead Mossad's Tzomet Division and was the agency's deputy director from 2011 to 2013, when he was appointed National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In 2016, Yossi Cohen succeeded Tamir Pardo as the Mossad's director.

Yossi Cohen was born in Jerusalem to a religious family and grew up in the Katamon neighborhood.

Yossi Cohen's father Aryeh was an eighth-generation Sabra who was descended from one of the founding families of the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Yossi Cohen worked in a senior position at Bank Mizrahi and was an Irgun veteran.

Yossi Cohen's mother Mina was a teacher and school principal.

Yossi Cohen was a seventh-generation Sabra, born to a Jewish family rooted in Hebron, now part of the West Bank.

Yossi Cohen was raised in a religious household and was a member of the Bnei Akiva religious Zionist youth movement.

Yossi Cohen attended the religious high school Yeshivat Or Etzion.

Yossi Cohen was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1979.

Yossi Cohen volunteered as a paratrooper in the 35th Paratroopers Brigade.

Yossi Cohen served as a soldier and a squad leader.

Yossi Cohen became a case officer, charged with recruiting and handling spies in foreign nations.

Yossi Cohen ran agents in a number of countries over his career, and rose to lead the Mossad's collections division.

Yossi Cohen was known publicly as "Y" in this post.

Yossi Cohen won the prestigious Israel Security Prize for his Mossad work.

In December 2015, Yossi Cohen was appointed to succeed Tamir Pardo as director of the Mossad, and assumed office in January 2016.

In January 2018, Yossi Cohen oversaw the Mossad operation to steal Iran's secret nuclear archive in Tehran and smuggle it out of the country.

Yossi Cohen has been the chief Israeli official in charge of managing Israel's largely clandestine relations with various Arab nations.

Yossi Cohen has often met with representatives of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar and helped negotiate Netanyahu's visit to Oman in 2018.

In June 2021, Yossi Cohen retired from Israel's national intelligence agency.

At a conference in 2019 in Herzliya, Israel, Yossi Cohen announced that Israel has a unique window of opportunity to reach a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Yossi Cohen stated that this is the view of the Mossad unit whose job it is to analyze diplomatic opportunities.

Netanyahu reportedly considered Yossi Cohen to be the best person to succeed him as prime minister when he leaves office.

In 2022, Yossi Cohen returned the gift to Packer, and in 2023, the Attorney General's office concluded the investigation, finding that the gift had been approved by the Mossad's legal adviser.

In December 2021, Channel 13 released a report claiming that Yossi Cohen had had an affair with a flight attendant in 2018 and had revealed classified information to her.

In spring 2024, it was reported that Yossi Cohen had threatened Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Fatou Bensouda and her family when he was Mossad director after Bensouda opened an investigation into Israeli war crimes.

Intelligence reporter Ronen Bergman has written that Yossi Cohen has a reputation as a tough boss, that he speaks fluent English, French, and Arabic.

Yossi Cohen is a marathon runner and is known as 'The Model' for his stylish appearance.