AG ends police probe into ex-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen over suspected illicit gift

The attorney general ends a police inquiry into former head of the Mossad Yossi Cohen after it was discovered in 2021 that he received a gift of some $20,000 from Australian business tycoon James Packer on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding in 2016.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, the decision comes following recommendations by the State Attorney’s Office and the head of the police’s investigative and intelligence branch to end the probe.

“The inquiry showed that the Mossad’s legal adviser at the time approved receipt of the gift,” the Attorney General’s Office says, adding that the possible criminal violation had been a breach of trust by a public figure.

Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit initiated the probe in August 2021 when the allegations came to light.

Packer is one of the two wealthy businessmen who gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara large quantities of luxury goods, part of the “illicit gifts affair” for which Netanyahu is currently on trial.