Speaking on Israel’s Memorial Day at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, former Mossad Director Yossi Cohen offered a deeply personal reflection on the toll of the ongoing war and laid out his view on how Israel should handle the threat posed by Iran.
In an interview with The Media Line’s Felice Friedson, Cohen described this year’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism as especially painful. “For everybody and for all Israelis, it’s such a hard day to bear,” he said. Cohen lost two close cousins in the fighting—Elhanan Kalmanson, who died battling Hamas gunmen at Kibbutz Be’eri on October 8, 2023, and Pedayah Mark, killed weeks later inside Gaza. “I remember these two, especially because they’re closer to me, but I do remember all these that have fallen together with them,” he said.
Cohen extended his remembrance to soldiers from across Israel’s security services—IDF, Shin Bet, Mossad, and Border Police—who have died in various combat zones including Gaza, the north, and the West Bank. “It touches me every day, every night, when I think about October 7,” he said.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
Turning to Iran, Cohen stressed the importance of preventing the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. “We should do everything to make sure that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons,” he said. If a “good deal” can be reached—meaning one that permanently halts Iran’s nuclear ambitions—Cohen believes Israel would support it. But absent that, he said, “we have only one option, and this is to attack their nuclear facilities, and the sooner the better.”
Cohen said he believes the US is “urgently” pressing Iran toward a decision and is not allowing Tehran to stall indefinitely. “Either Iran will agree to [a deal] or bear with the circumstances,” he said.
Regarding the hostages still held by Hamas, Cohen acknowledged the difficulty of resolving what he called a “very hard equation,” but said Israel must continue working for the return of every captive. “Partially [they] were released, partially were rescued, but partially are still there,” he said. “We have to make our utmost to make sure that everybody comes home.”
Cohen concluded with a clear vision for the war’s end: “All our hostages home, and that Hamas does not control Gaza Strip any longer.”