Ex-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen mulls political run with new party

Cohen, long courted by political leaders, may bypass existing factions to launch his own platform ahead of Israel’s next elections.

By David Brummer, World Israel News

Yossi Cohen, former director of the Mossad, is weighing a move into politics and is leaning toward forming a new party ahead of Israel’s next elections, according to a report aired on Israel TV Channel 12’s “Meet the Press.”

Despite repeated overtures from top political figures — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Liberman, and former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett — Cohen has reportedly shown little interest in joining any existing faction, according to the Israel National News media network.

Sources told Channel 12 that according to Cohen, the current political map leaves a vacuum he may be uniquely positioned to fill.

“While Netanyahu delivers the right, but no change, and Yair Golan, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz offer change, but no right, Cohen may fill that gap in the political map,” a source told N12, Channel 12’s online platform.

Cohen, 63, was born in Jerusalem into a religious Zionist family. His cousin, Rabbi Michael Mark, a prominent educator, was killed in a terrorist attack.

He joined the Mossad in the early 1980s and rose to become one of its most influential figures.

Cohen led the agency’s European operations and its Tzomet division, which oversees field agents worldwide.

In 2013, Netanyahu appointed him National Security Advisor, and in 2016, he became head of the Mossad, a post he held until 2021.

Until recently, Cohen had downplayed the prospect of entering politics.

In an episode of the UNHOLY podcast, he told hosts Yonit Levi and Jonathan Freedland, “I don’t think this is the time to discuss changing the government, but I do believe that after the war there needs to be a big change here.”

Since stepping down from public service, Cohen has been active in the business world, most notably in his partnership with Japanese tech investment giant SoftBank, for which he is the investment fund’s representative in Israel.

His recent political stirrings suggest he sees a shift in public sentiment following the war in Gaza and may think the timing is now right for a fresh political alternative.

No official announcement has been made, but political insiders say Cohen is assembling a team and exploring the logistics of launching a new movement — an initiative that could shake up Israel’s fragmented political landscape.