Has no desire to be PM; worries about new Shin Bet head Zini

After joining Yashar, ex-head of Shin Bet says Smotrich a ‘legitimate’ partner, but not Ben Gvir

Yoram Cohen warns of ‘catastrophic’ outcome for Israel if current coalition with its ‘non-Zionist’ elements retains power after election, says he entered politics due to Netanyahu’s ‘failures’

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

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

Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionism party has consistently been polling under the electoral threshold.

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, Cohen insisted.

Ben Gvir, who has previous convictions for incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organization, was not conscripted because of his extremist background. More recently, he has brandished his own handgun on several occasions and was summoned for a talk by the Knesset security chief in 2021 after he drew a pistol during an argument with Arab parking attendants in Tel Aviv.

Cohen, who announced on Tuesday he was entering politics and joining Eisenkot’s party, said he did so in response to what he called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s failures, warning it will be “catastrophic” for the country if the current government is reelected.

“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 said in the TV interview.

Cohen objected to the inclusion in the Netanyahu government — which is currently advancing an “evasion law” — of “non-Zionist” elements who “do not serve in the army, and send our children to repeated wars while they themselves do not serve,” referring to the coalition’s two ultra-Orthodox parties.

He also denounced ministers “who have a criminal background and administer the law” in apparent reference to Ben Gvir, whose ministry oversees the police and has been accused of unduly influencing law enforcement.

Cohen slammed Netanyahu for refusing to allow a state commission of inquiry to investigate the failures surrounding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks. “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 said.

The former Shin Bet head additionally castigated Netanyahu for his attacks on the judiciary and law enforcement, repeating 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 told Channel 12.

He further accused the prime minister of attempting to employ the Shin Bet against his political rivals in 2019, when Netanyahu allegedly phoned Cohen’s successor as Shin Bet chief, Nadav Argaman, to demand he declare Benny Gantz unfit to be prime minister due to reports the Blue and White party leader’s phone was allegedly hacked by Iranian operatives.

Cohen has also previously claimed that during his tenure, Netanyahu asked him more than once to carry out “illegitimate acts,” such as requesting that he wiretap the government’s top defense officials to ensure they were not leaking information from a particularly sensitive security meeting.

Netanyahu moved from targeting individuals to launching attacks on the entire system after his criminal indictment for corruption in late 2019, Cohen asserted in Saturday night’s interview, accusing the premier of appointing officials based on “personal loyalty.”

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

Asked if he would sit in government with Arab parties, Cohen replied that to be partners they would need to recognize Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, back universal military and national service as well as support the principles of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

“Any party that agrees to these three parameters will be relevant,” Cohen said.

He added, however, that he would not want to have to rely on an Arab party for the coalition to muster a Knesset majority, instead backing a “Zionist” majority coalition that others could then join.

Smotrich sparked an uproar last week when he asserted that Bennett’s decision to include the Islamist Ra’am party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the governmental failures to prevent the Hamas-led October 7 atrocities, which marked the deadliest attack in Israel’s history and for Jews since the Holocaust.

Cohen also declared he has no ambition to be prime minister, refused to state a preference for any ministerial portfolio, and said he is committed to serving a full term in the Knesset, but made no further promises.