On the way to the northern border to brief foreign ambassadors in his last week in office, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen did not rest for a moment. By his side in the official car were two yellow notebooks, in which he wrote and erased tasks throughout the day and remotely managed his staff. The driver and bodyguard were required to maintain complete silence in this mobile office. They spoke to each other only when a launch was spotted on the horizon, and the armored vehicle was asked to slow down upon entering Hezbollah's firing range. A rather surreal reality, which Cohen would soon be required to explain to representatives of foreign countries, who although pressuring Israel not to open another war on its northern border, are struck speechless in light of the absurd situation, in which tens of thousands have become refugees from their homes for three months already.
Cohen is pushing himself to complete two main tasks within a few days, so they will be part of the farewell picture of his short (for now) tenure as head of the coveted ministry, which he will leave behind for the Ministry of Energy.
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In the time between writing this interview and its publication, he meets those targets. He resolved the three-year-old labor dispute at the ministry and moved forward the bill on loyalty to the state in diplomatic positions in second and third readings – mere hours before the Knesset plenum approved the coveted ministerial shuffle.
When I ask Cohen if in retrospect he would have made the same political deal, he decisively says yes, but does not evade criticism.
"This political arrangement of one-two-one years is crooked, to begin with, and it would have been right to divide the term into two-year terms, but I honor agreements. There is no agreement I haven't honored, even as a businessman. When you run long distances – honor agreements," he advises. "I think I have proved that even in one year you can achieve very significant accomplishments. I must admit that the position I wanted during the coalition negotiations was finance minister, and there were two days when I was already in that position and was asked about a representative from the Shas party serving as my deputy. I wanted then to deal with reducing disparities and providing equal opportunities for all, but I have no regrets. On the contrary. I leave the Foreign Ministry with a very great sense of satisfaction."
The scope is indeed dramatic: 36 visits around the world, four embassies expected to move to Jerusalem, four new embassies in Israel (two of them Muslim countries – Azerbaijan and Chad), the inauguration of a new embassy in Turkmenistan, a free trade agreement with the UAE, the opening of Oman's airspace to flights from Israel, and an almost historic agreement with Sudan.
Q: Why almost?
"There is a ready draft peace agreement with Sudan, three pages," Cohen recalls with regret the process that was at its peak just over a year ago. "Former US. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides already told me 'We are waiting for you in the Rose Garden (at the White House) to sign an agreement with Sudan.' Unfortunately, the civil war there broke out, which delays the issue, but the importance to Israel is critical: The country is located on the Red Sea coast, and the current events show just how important it is to ensure there is no Iranian presence there."
But Sudan aside, the most important diplomatic breakthrough that has stalled is vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia. The Oct. 7 war interrupted the most significant political process for Israel in the Muslim world that such a normalization would have generated. In an unusual political statement, Cohen says in a conversation with us that this was indeed one of the goals of the attack, and officially places Hamas as Iranian-backed. According to him, "Iran looked at the regional process with dread; this alliance would have threatened them security-wise vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, which sees Iran as its biggest enemy, and the land bridge would have created economic advantages. Therefore, the attack also served the Iranian interest and in fact, sharpened the importance of that alliance between the countries."
Q: What are the chances of moving this forward again in light of the Gaza war?
"One of the goals of the October 7 attack was to prevent the peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, but I think it will be signed because the interest is more Saudi than Israeli. Saudi Arabia wants a regional alliance because they want protection from Iran." He also has a fairly clear prediction regarding the timing: "There is great potential for an agreement with Saudi Arabia to be signed in the third quarter of this year. The Saudi interest is clear. They see the US standing by Israel in the Gaza war, and expect the same support from them. President Biden, for his part, will want a political achievement towards the elections that will contribute to regional stability and bring down oil prices."
The likelihood of such a move being approved with the current political climate in Washington depends on having the Democrats in power. According to Cohen, "It is more likely that an agreement brought by the Democrats – the Republicans will support it, not the other way around. The Saudis also understand this. Lindsey Graham spoke about it clearly on his visit to Saudi Arabia and promised Biden a safety net." Cohen reveals that talks between Israel and additional Muslim countries have already been held towards having official diplomatic relations, but they are all waiting for Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Muslim world.
The efforts to conclude an agreement with Saudi Arabia have been led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu together with his confidant, Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, who is often also referred to as Israel's "de facto foreign minister," especially in relation to ties with Washington. Cohen does not deny the close relationship between Netanyahu and Dermer but rejects the second part.
"Ron is a very talented guy I tend to consult with, and he has accompanied Netanyahu for over 20 years in various roles. He was an excellent ambassador to the US, so it's legitimate for the prime minister to appoint him special envoy to Washington and for Ron to serve in that position. Previous prime ministers who wanted to keep Washington close to them did the same, especially since Bibi himself lives and breathes the US. I have worked in full cooperation with Ron this past year, and alongside that, the dominant and active Foreign Ministry could be seen. No single appointment can replace the work of 101 embassies and Israel's foreign service apparatus."
Two events clouded Cohen's tenure in the coveted ministry. Only recently, the Haaretz newspaper wrote that he had requested a diplomatic passport for the prime minister's son, Yair, and in another incident, after his meeting with Libya's foreign minister was publicized – it led to a real threat on her life. He answers briefly about both events.
Q: Do you regret exposing the relationship with the Libyan minister, which led to her fleeing the country?
"The meeting with Libya's foreign minister was coordinated and approved by all levels in both countries, planned in advance to be publicized, and therefore was not leaked but officially announced. When the full story comes out in due course, anyone who besmirched and attacked will eat crow, and I hope they will also know to apologize."
Q: Did the prime minister ask you to issue his son a passport?
"Absolutely not. The passport for Yair Netanyahu was issued by the director general for security considerations. Three former directors general also approved passports for the prime minister's son in 2009, 2014, and 2018. When it became clear that this was the situation, of course, the reporter did not publish a clarification."
When we arrive up north, a barrage of 18 rockets of various types welcome the minister and ambassador – just a taste of Hezbollah's capabilities, a terrorist organization with worrying abilities that has managed to paralyze an entire region. The ambassadors are required to take shelter upon arrival, and there in the closed room, Cohen clarifies the Israeli message once again: either Hezbollah forces will withdraw beyond the Litani River through diplomatic means, or Israel will be forced into military action to achieve that goal. Even before we go down to the shelter with them, Cohen does not sound very optimistic about the possibility of the diplomatic solution he is trying to promote.
"We are making every effort to promote a political solution and are primarily enlisting the US and France, who are not interested in another war in the region and understand the implications of such a war. It is enough to see the ripple effects of the Gaza war – we are talking about more than five fronts active, and that is what we explain to all those countries: the war here is not against Hamas but against Iran. The Houthis receive equipment from Iran, as do Hezbollah and Hamas. Much has been said about the Iranian nuclear challenge, but today they understand that Iran is like cancer, the number one financier of terror in the world."
Q: Do you see progress vis-à-vis Hezbollah?
"Yes, we see Hezbollah understands the rules have changed. There is an exchange of messages with senior Lebanese political figures, who tell us they don't want war in the country but have no ability to influence Hezbollah. It's an army that sits in Lebanon but takes orders from Iran."
Cohen's diplomatic front changed on the morning of October 7. Instead of opening embassies and taking actions to expand Israel's international ties, the outgoing foreign minister moved into activities supporting Israel's legitimacy for the Gaza war. He held over 30 tours of the Gaza border communities and hosted EU foreign minister Josep Borrell, who is not known as a friend of Israel, on one of them. "When I took office I had a pleasant conversation with him, and after a month and a half, he published an article comparing the IDF to Hamas. I told my Foreign Ministry employees, 'know that the conversation will not be diplomatic,' and I told him – you won't come to Israel. Your comparison is outrageous and preposterous. It was a loud conversation that ended undiplomatically.
"We then met at the EU for over an hour. Borrell is a prime example of a blatant anti-Israeli, who significantly mitigated his statements and adopted a more balanced approach. When he came to Israel and saw what happened – he expressed empathy towards us."
Q: But he does not get rid of his call to promote the two-state solution as a resolution to the conflict.
"I do not believe in the two-state issue. The latest Gaza war also caused parts of the nation to sober up and realize it is not right historically and poses a security danger. Between the Jordan River and the sea, there needs to be one country, no one will want another Gaza near Kfar Saba. And I say this to those foreign ministers visiting Israel: A Palestinian state will not be. It's an unnecessary discussion, but come help advance peace with other Muslim countries instead."
Q: And what's happening now? Three months into the war it seems our diplomatic capital is running out.
"You can count on one hand the countries calling for an absolute ceasefire. There is support for defeating Hamas and there are those who want to give advice, but there is unequivocal support for Israel. The airlift of leaders for Israel since the massacre – Presidents Biden and Macron, the British PM, the Italian PM, and 23 other foreign ministers who came to the State of Israel and wept here – helped generate support for Israel.
"When I went to Kyiv, the first minister from Israel to do so [since the war with Russia began] and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy there – this was in retrospect the right decision that helped us gain international legitimacy. The entire Western world has unequivocally stood by Ukraine, which gave us the legitimacy to demand that those same countries be on the right side of history today in Israel's war against Hamas and Iran's terror proxies. As far as I'm concerned there is no diplomatic countdown clock because we have to defeat Hamas, otherwise, we have no right to exist."
Cohen sees the Gaza war's influence on the world also on the more local level: "Since October 7, clearly pro-Israel leaders have been elected in two elections – in Argentina and the Netherlands. There is also great resentment among European countries over pro-Palestinian demonstrations, those Islamist demonstrations they brought in, and those feeling today they took the right steps are Hungary and Poland, which prevented migrant entry. Incidentally, those European countries' fear of us clashing with Lebanon is also due to the forecast of yet another wave of refugees from there to them."
Q: Would you support investigative actions regarding the October 7 failures?
"I support a state commission of inquiry to examine how this blunder happened, that will fully hold accountable those who failed and ensure such a thing doesn't happen again. October 7 changes Israel's security paradigm." He refers again to the Hezbollah case and admits: "Moving it [beyond the Litani River] alone will not help. Additional elements are needed such as reinforcing the military presence along all of Israel's borders, canceling the shortening of military service and increasing reserve duty days, as well as changing the mix within the military – we have great appreciation for technology and intelligence, but there is no substitute for ground forces, so the military presence will increase significantly. From now on, Israel will respond to every provocation, and these retaliations will be very harsh."
Q: You have sat in the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet over the past year. Were there warnings you missed?
"In the past year, there were preparations for the Iranian front and the security establishment required a supplemental budget of 12 billion shekels, which was also given, to be prepared for any scenario on the Iranian issue and also on the northern issue. Regarding Hamas, the assessments were that it was deterred, and the recommended course of action was to provide tools to strengthen the Gazan economy as a moderating factor. The previous government, as then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, also acted to significantly increase the scope of workers entering Israel as part of this intelligence assessment.
Q: As part of the close relationship with the US and the assistance it provides Israel, are Biden people also influencing how the Gaza campaign is managed?
"We do not receive dictates from any country, including the US. The friendship is very great, and the US has proved that it is our ally both militarily and politically on the international scene and especially at the UN. The US supports both goals we have set: Destroying Hamas and returning all the captives. They help in security and intelligence and in the president's own actions towards Qatar and Egypt. We also hear that friendly countries supporting us do not want to see an expansion of the scope of fighting and would have preferred a shorter duration of the fighting in Gaza, but our fighting is not defined by time but by the achievement of our goals. The more we achieve them – the more we will agree to move on to the next stage, this is what we have been telling the world."
Q: A new deal for releasing the captives is in the works. Are we progressing towards releasing them all?
"We will make every effort to return the captives. I personally met with over 80 families here and abroad. Each of us could have been in this reality. I have two daughters in their 20s who could have been at a party, and a son in the army. We are leaving no stone unturned and exerting international pressure, but currently, there is no concrete deal on the table, and in any case, there will not be an absolute ceasefire."
Q: And releasing prisoners with blood on their hands?
"That is not on the table."
Q: What about what happens in Gaza after the war?
"The most important thing the day after is Israeli security control – keeping open the possibility of the IDF carrying out an operation in Gaza at any point in time and ensuring that everything entering the strip is screened for security by the State of Israel. We understand that on security we can only trust ourselves. On the civilian side, we believe that international elements – the US, Western countries, and Muslim states – will establish an international force to manage civilian life there."
Two countries that blatantly support terror and Hamas have been spared scathing Israeli criticism: Turkey and Qatar, with the latter due to dependence on its ability to lead to the release of captives. Cohen argues it is time to unmask both countries.
"Erdogan is an example of someone being ungrateful. Last February [after an earthquake hit] we were the first country to send aid to Turkey, set up a field hospital, and saved 19 people's lives – the second largest delegation to the country. But as long as Erdogan serves as Turkey's president, I don't see relations between Israel and Turkey warming up. Turkey will pay a price in the international arena because it is one of the few countries that maintains ties with Hamas. Turkey has to pay an economic price for its posture."
Q: And Qatar?
"In the future, it should not be allowed to serve both as a legitimate player and continue to be a major financier of terrorist organizations worldwide on the other. In my view, after the war, Qatar will need to choose a side."
The day after the war is not near, but I ask Cohen if it looks like Israel is sliding into the 2024 elections. On this, Cohen says: "It's still too early to know. People are quite tired of elections to some extent. I hope this unity will be and will persist, and that the Coalition will even expand. We are heading into a very challenging economic period, and I estimate there will be a significant wave of aliyah and a national integration program will be needed for 150,000 new olim.".
"I hope [State Party MK] Gideon Sa'ar will remain in government after the war and that Avigdor Liberman joins too, so we have at least 74 members. There were personal disputes between them and Netanyahu, but the State Party acted responsibly when they joined, and I hope Lieberman joins too. So far we have dealt with only one front and there are more, and I hope we find the formula for a wider coalition even without the need for elections."
Q: Perhaps also because the Likud is crashing in polls?
"I understand people's frustration after that very difficult Saturday on Oct. 7; there is not a single home in Israel that was not affected. Nevertheless, Likud's policies are the correct ones, and polls during wartime are not representative. I'm hearing more people in the center and left holding right-wing opinions, so I have no doubt Likud will strengthen. Yes, there are also things that need fixing.
"I came to Likud on the legacy of Menachem Begin. I grew up in a neighborhood where Begin was second only to God. On the ideological conservative side regarding the Land of Israel, he proved himself. Those on the left today are sobering up from the idea of a Palestinian state that is dangerous for Israel. Although public opinion is shifting rightward, it is important for Likud to sign a new contract with the Israeli public. Mandatory national service will be required for all those not doing military service. All Coalition pork-barrel spending must be canceled. I have never taken one such shekel. And even though most coalition funds are justified – they need to be part of the core budget."
Cohen adds: "I am not religious but I am a traditional Jew; tradition must be safeguarded in the country. Even as foreign minister, I was careful not to travel on Shabbat. Except for two Shabbat visits, I was always home with my family." He continues listing the problems looming over Israel: "It is important to provide opportunities for the younger generation in Israel, for our children the economic challenge will be greater. I was a young officer in the army, and my wife was an operator at a telecom company and we managed to buy an apartment. Today it's impossible."
Q: The High Court this week struck down the law that prevented the judiciary from ruling based on "reasonableness." At the end of the day, the judicial reform you promoted died.
"The court's decision damages the balance between the branches of government and we must create a consensus space, but at this time we must deal only with the toppling of Hamas, so any dealing with the judicial reform is superfluous at this time. I think we need to make amendments that will strengthen the separation of powers and prevent further such clashes between the branches of government. It is important that we make a sincere effort to reach a broad consensus. In my eyes, the law was important for the state in general and for strengthening democracy in particular, so we can start by promoting some important moves with broad consensus."
After 37 stamps from different countries were stamped in his passport, Cohen said a wonderful sentence to summarize his tenure: "They told me I was a foreign minister with a lot of energy, so it works out now."
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