Yoram Cohen (; born 1960) is a retired

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i intelligence officer who served as the Director of

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; , (GSS); ), better known by the Hebrew acronyms, acronyms Shabak (; ; ) or Shin Bet (from the abbreviation of , "Security Service"), is Israel's internal Security agency, security service. Its motto is "''Magen ...

, from May 15, 2011 until May 8, 2016, when he was replaced by

Nadav Argaman Nadav Argaman (; born 11 August 1960) is a former director of Shin Bet from 8 May 2016 to 13 October 2021. He previously served as deputy head of Shin Bet, Operations Division chief, and the Shin Bet representative in the United States. He was app ...

Biography

Cohen was born in Israel to Moshe and Leah Cohen, Jewish immigrants from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. He grew up in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and graduated from a religious high school in

Pardes Hanna-Karkur Pardes Hanna-Karkur () is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of . It has been characterized as having a hipster culture. History An Arab village named Karkur had stood at this location by the time the Palestine Ex ...

. He was drafted into the IDF in 1979, and did his military service in the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

. He served as a soldier and a

squad leader ''Squad Leader'' is a tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of the most complex war games of its time, ''Squ ...

in the brigade's

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

company. In 1982, after finishing his compulsory service in the IDF, he started working at Shin Bet; his first post was security officer for the field coordinators. After studying an Arabic course and having been sent to the Shin Bet field coordinators course, he became, in 1983, field coordinator of Binyamin Region, and in 1989 the field coordinator of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

Region. In 1991 he was appointed head of the Operative Desk in Yehuda Region, and in 1996 he was appointed head of the Terror Prevention Division in Yehuda Region. Between 1999–2001 he served as head of the Arab-Iranian Terror Prevention Division. In 2003 he was appointed head of the

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Judea and Samaria Area The Judea and Samaria Area (; ) is an administrative division used by the State of Israel to refer to the entire West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967, but excludes East Jerusalem (see Jerusalem Law). Its area is split int ...

. In 2005 he was elected deputy to Shin Bet chief

Yuval Diskin Yuval Diskin (; born June 11, 1956) is a former director of the Israeli internal security service Shin Bet, serving as its 13th director from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and later served under subsequent Prime M ...

, and engaged in policy-building and organizational decisions. In 2008 he was a research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington, DC. Upon his return to Israel in 2010, he was responsible for formulating the concept of service management in the coming decade. On 15 May 2011 Cohen became the twelfth Director of Shin Bet, replacing Diskin.

Education

Cohen graduated from Midrashiat Noam Yeshiva high school in

Pardes Chana Pardes Hanna-Karkur () is a town in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of . It has been characterized as having a hipster culture. History An Arab village named Karkur had stood at this location by the time the Palestine Exp ...

. Cohen has a BA and an MA in political science from

Haifa University The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an indepen ...

and is a graduate of the National Defense College.

Personal life

Cohen was born to parents who came to Israel from Afghanistan. He comes from a religious family and wears a

kippah A (plural: ''kippot''), , or is a brimless Jewish cap, skullcap, usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that the Head covering, head be covered. It is the most common type of head-coverin ...

(skullcap). Cohen is married and has five children, and has lived in Jerusalem since 1983.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Yoram Living people 1960 births Directors of the Shin Bet Israeli Jews Israeli people of Afghan-Jewish descent University of Haifa alumni Midrashiat Noam alumni