Ex-Mossad chief to receive $500,000 from Keren Hayesod for speaking tours — report

Yossi Cohen reportedly paid $250K to speak at fundraising events in Europe, will travel to Australia soon on similar trip

By ToI Staff 9 December 2021, 9:50 pm

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Mossad chief Yossi Cohen at the Jerusalem Post Conference on October 12, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen is to be paid around half a million dollars by Keren Hayesod, Israel’s official fundraising body, for two lecture tours abroad, according to a Thursday report.

Cohen received some $250,000 for a recent trip to Europe, and will be paid a similar sum for an upcoming speaking tour in Australia, the Walla news site reported.

Keren Hayesod, also known as the United Israel Appeal, said the funds for the tours were raised by “local sponsors.”

The organization, whose goal is to raise funds for Israel and Jewish communities abroad for aliyah and absorption projects, regularly invites former Israeli officials to lectures and fundraising events.

Cohen traveled in October to Keren Hayesod events in Geneva, Brussels, Monaco, Berlin and Frankfurt, and was paid a quarter of a million dollars, according to Walla.

There was no comment from Cohen on the report.

Illustrative: Then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Keren Hayesod Annual World Conference at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on April 16, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Cohen has faced a number of accusations of ethics violations. On Monday it was reported that he helped secure his daughter a job at a firm with links to a senior Emirati official while still serving as head of Mossad,

According to Channel 12 news, Achinoam Cohen Ganonyan began working for Group 42 earlier this year before her father’s term as Mossad chief ended. Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser and a member of the royal family, is the chairman of Group 42.

She was reportedly employed as an office manager at the company’s local branch, which opened after Israel and the United Arab Emirates normalized diplomatic ties last year as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords.

A woman takes a selfie photograph with the Dubai Marina behind her at The View at the Palm observation deck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, July 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

In August, police began probing several claims against Cohen, including that he was illicitly gifted $20,000.

Cohen admits receiving the cash gift from billionaire Australian businessman James Packer for his daughter’s wedding, as first reported by Haaretz in May. In a TV interview in June, shortly after retiring as the head of the spy agency, Cohen spoke for the first time about the incident. He claimed to have accepted the funds after consulting Mossad’s legal adviser, and said he was committed to returning the gift.

Cohen’s term as Mossad chief ended in June, when he was succeeded by David Barnea.

Days later, he was appointed as the head of Israel operations for Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank.

Cohen, who was appointed by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has said he does not rule out seeking to become prime minister one day, though he is not yet contemplating such an ambition.