Yossi Cohen

Cohen was born in Jerusalem to a religious family and grew up in the Katamon neighborhood. His father, Leo, was a seventh-generation Israeli and Irgun veteran. He worked at Bank Mizrahi, reaching a senior position there. His mother was a teacher.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flanked by U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli–Palestinian Negotiations Frank Lowenstein and Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen, on 11 November 2015, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

Cohen was drafted into the IDF in 1979. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade. He served as a soldier and a squad leader. Not long after he was honorably discharged he was drafted in to the Mossad. Cohen is a 30-year-veteran of the Mossad and described as 'able to inspire the confidence of his charges'. He ran agents in a number of countries over his career, and led the Mossad's collections division ("Tsomet"). From 2011 to 2013, he was the deputy director, serving under Tamir Pardo. He was known publicly as "Y" (Hebrew: "י") in this post. Cohen won the prestigious Israel Security Prize for his Mossad work.

Intelligence reporter Ronen Bergman has written that Cohen has a reputation as a tough boss, that he speaks perfect English, French, and Arabic, and is also a marathon runner.

In August 2013 he was appointed the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel. In December 2015, Cohen was appointed to succeed Tamir Pardo as director of Mossad. and assumed office in January 2016.

Cohen has four children. One of his sons, Yonatan, is a former officer in Unit 8200 and has cerebral palsy. He also has one granddaughter. He is nicknamed "the Model" for his neat appearance.