Yoram Cohen, former Shin Bet chief and new Yashar member, says Smotrich is ‘legitimate’ political partner, but Ben Gvir isn’t

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is a “legitimate” political partner, says former Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen, who is running for the Knesset with Gadi Eisenkot’s centrist Yashar party.

Speaking with Channel 12, Cohen calls Smotrich a “Zionist” and a “patriot” who served in the IDF, stating that “for all these reasons, he is legitimate” even if some of his statements and policies are “immature.”

By contrast, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, whose ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party ran together with Smotrich’s Religious Zionism in the last election, is not a legitimate partner. Ben Gvir, who has convictions for incitement to racism and support of a terrorist organization (Kach), was not conscripted because of his extremist background.

Cohen, who announced his entry into politics with Eisenkot’s party on Tuesday, says he did so in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failures, asserting that if the current government is reelected it will be “catastrophic” for the country.

“If I hadn’t seen the behavior of Mr. Netanyahu, of his government, of the failures… of the future risk, I wouldn’t have entered politics,” he says.

Cohen objects to the fact that the current government includes “non-Zionist” elements who “do not serve in the army, and send our children to repeated wars while they themselves do not serve” — a reference to the coalition’s two ultra-Orthodox parties. He also denounces the inclusion of ministers “who have a criminal background and administer the law,” in an apparent reference to Ben Gvir.

“I am surprised at us, too, at our public that gives legitimacy to people who stood at the head of the system on October 7, for example, the prime minister specifically, who also shaped the policy in the preceding years,” he adds, slamming Netanyahu for refusing to allow an investigation of the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks by way of a state commission of inquiry.

Cohen also castigates Netanyahu for his attacks on the judiciary and law enforcement. He repeats a previous claim that Netanyahu once asked him to “disqualify” political rival Naftali Bennett from his security cabinet by revoking Bennett’s security clearance. (Netanyahu’s office has denied the claim and accused Cohen of making it up.)

“I told him I wouldn’t do it. I reported it to those who needed to be reported to immediately afterward,” including Bennett himself, Cohen tells Channel 12.

He accuses the prime minister of again attempting to misuse the Shin Bet in 2019, when Netanyahu allegedly phoned Cohen’s successor as Shin Bet chief, Nadav Argaman, and demanded that Argaman declare rival Benny Gantz unfit to be prime minister due to reports that the Blue and White chief’s phone had been allegedly hacked by Iranian operatives.

Netanyahu went from attacking individuals to launching attacks on the entire system after his criminal indictment for corruption in late 2019, Cohen asserts, claiming that the premier has been appointing officials based on the criteria of “personal loyalty.”

He says current Shin Bet chief David Zini will need a “strong backbone” to stand up to inappropriate demands from Netanyahu, and says he is worried about the newly appointed Zini’s stance on issues including delaying hearings in Netanyahu’s trial for reasons of security and the so-called Qatargate scandal involving aides to Netanyahu.

Asked if he would sit in government with Arab parties, Cohen replies that they would need to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, accept universal service, and back the principles of the Declaration of Independence in order to be partners. He adds, however, that he would not want to have to rely on an Arab party inside the coalition to muster a Knesset majority, but, rather, supports a “Zionist” majority coalition that others could then join.

Cohen says he has no ambition to be prime minister, refuses to state a preference for any ministerial portfolio, and says he is committed to serving a full term in the Knesset but makes no promises beyond that.