Meet Israel’s new minister of foreign affairs, Eli Cohen
Israel’s new minister of foreign affairs is 50-year-old Knesset Member Eli Cohen of the Likud party.
He performed his military service in the Israeli Air Force, obtaining the rank of major. After his service, he obtained degrees from Tel Aviv University and the Open University of Israel in accounting, management and economics, and business administration.
Cohen worked as an accountant at various firms and as a lecturer at Tel Aviv University. In 2007, he was made senior vice president of the Israel Land Development Company.
In 2015, Cohen joined the Kulanu party and was elected to the Knesset. He was appointed chairperson of the Reforms Committee and also served on the Finance Committee for the Defense Budget.
In 2017, Cohen took responsibility for the office of the minister of economy.
He was voted into the Knesset with Kulanu in the April 2019 elections. He then joined the Likud party for the September 2019 election, where he was re-elected both in September and again the following March.
In May 2020, Cohen was appointed minister of intelligence in the Netanyahu-Gantz coalition government.
Cohen will serve as Israel’s new foreign affairs minister in rotation with Israel Katz, who was appointed minister of energy. He will hold the foreign affairs position until December, at which point he will swap roles with Katz. In December 2025, the two will swap roles again.
Cohen lives with his wife and four children in Holon.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
