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‘One of the best Mossad heads ever,’ Netanyahu praises departing Cohen

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“We penetrated into the heart of hearts of the enemy Iran,” Cohen said.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heaped praise upon outgoing Mossad head Yossi Cohen at a farewell ceremony on Monday.

Cohen was “one of the best Mossad heads ever,” said Netanyahu of the man who is widely believed to have been his longtime confidant.

“When you took on the role, Yossi, I told you that I was convinced that you could march the Mossad forward,” he said. “You and the Mossad staff were up to the task – you proved that you can take a spear that has already been sharpened and sharpen it even more.”

The Mossad’s successful 2018 raid of Iran’s nuclear archives, which Netanyahu later presented to the UN, was one of the institution’s “most glorious achievements in all its days,” the premier said.

“I don’t want to and cannot detail all that we did to fight the Ayatollah regime that threatens to annihilate us,” Netanyahu added. “This evening, as well most of these things in the realm of subterfuge, should remain in the shadows.”

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Netanyahu said that he told Cohen upon his assuming the role in 2016 that his highest priority should be thwarting Iran’s nuclear program.

It’s believed that a number of sabotage attempts of the nuclear program, including the assassination of nuclear physicist Mohsen Fakrizadeh and a massive explosion at the Natanz enrichment site, were orchestrated by the Mossad.

“We penetrated into the heart of hearts of the enemy Iran,” Cohen said. “We acted to constantly gather intelligence and uncover its secrets, and undermined its self-confidence and arrogance.”

He cited the Iran nuclear archive mission as one of his proudest moments, saying that Israel had “exposed to the whole world Iran’s military nuclear program, its plans, its preservation of capabilities in the military nuclear field and Iran’s fraud and lies.”

Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended the farewell ceremony.