As Israel's political parties race to finalize their candidate lists ahead of upcoming elections, a notable development has emerged: Yossi Cohen, who served as director of the Mossad from 2016 to 2021, reportedly explored the possibility of joining the Likud party, according to a report by Bini Ashkenazi on the Hayom news site.
The inquiry, according to the report, was not made directly by Cohen himself but through intermediaries who approached senior Likud officials to gauge whether a reserved spot on the party's electoral list might be available for the former intelligence chief.
Before leading the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service responsible for covert operations and intelligence gathering, Cohen served as head of the National Security Council and as national security advisor.
He has long been regarded as a respected figure within Israel's nationalist political camp, and his name has surfaced periodically in media speculation about potential entry into Likud's leadership ranks, though until now no concrete steps had materialized.
Repeated attempts to reach Cohen for comment went unanswered before publication.
The Likud party issued a denial, stating: "We are not familiar with any such thing. There was no approach from Yossi Cohen to Likud or from Likud to Yossi Cohen."
