Yoram Cohen's Tenure as Head of the ISA

Five years after he took office, Israel Security Agency Chief Yoram Cohen will leave his post next Sunday, clearing the way for his successor Nadav Argaman. Amir Rapaport's weekly column

Yoram Cohen's Tenure as Head of the ISA

Photo: GPO

After the official farewell ceremony, Cohen will set sail towards an unknown future. He has not revealed his plans for the future, if any such plans even exist. One thing is certain: the leadership change at the ISA will go much more smoothly than the appointment of Cohen himself. It was thought at the time that extraneous considerations made Prime Minister Netanyahu choose Cohen over Yitzhak Ilan.

But five years later, the conclusion of Yoram Cohen's term is strictly practical. Cohen led the ISA during an exciting period of major changes, regional instability and worldwide terrorist threats. The only thing that remained stable was PM Netanyahu, who appointed him as well as his successor.

Cyber ​​First

The organization itself has gone through great change during Cohen's tenure in order to adapt to the era where terrorist groups are not only organized groups with a clear chain of leadership and command centers, but also spontaneous groups organizing online.

Accordingly, one of the most significant changes during Cohen's term was to establish many new cyber entities within the ISA. The "computer people" are no less important today than the agents taking risks in the field. Computer experts monitor the internet for any planned disturbances and "fish out" people who might "spontaneously" become terrorists. A special project of the ISA apparently succeeded in thwarting dozens of individual attacks during the past six months alone.

Moreover, Cohen was involved in establishing a cyber defense entity designated to protect all national intelligence agencies – the Intelligence Division of the IDF, Mossad and the ISA itself. During Cohen's tenure, the ISA successfully helped protect dozens of national infrastructure institutions from millions of hacking attempts.

Forming New Units

Structural changes in the ISA are not only cyber ​​related. A new brigade responsible for the Sinai region was formed, in order to foil attacks originating in an area where countless ISIS and al-Qaeda squads operate.

Cohen placed a special emphasis to minimize the involvement of Israeli Arabs, especially from East Jerusalem, in ISIS operations. In Cohen's view, this is a great danger. In recent years, according to the ISA, Israel thwarted nine terrorist cells affiliated with the Islamic State. The only actual attack affiliated with ISIS was carried out on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv by an Israeli citizen named Nashat Melhem.

As part of the thwarting efforts, 65 Israeli Arabs and residents of East Jerusalem suspected of belonging to ISIS were arrested. 35 joined the fighting in Syria or Iraq, and some of them were arrested when they returned to Israel. 9 were killed in battle. Compared to European countries and to the size of the Arab population, the level of involvement in ISIS is negligible. So is the involvement of Israeli Arabs in terrorism in general. The banning of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel is largely a personal achievement of Yoram Cohen.

Thwarting Terror Attempts

Another important issue for Yoram Cohen is the fight against Jewish terrorism. Cohen executed restraining orders and administrative detentions against Jews in an unprecedented way. In the first months of 2016 alone, he authorized 32 restraining orders. Overall, he initiated 18 administrative detention orders against Jews. ISA attribute the decrease in the number of Jewish attacks called "price tags" to this special effort.

Yoram Cohen's tenure began in the drama yet to be told in its entirety: He orchestrated from afar, in an unusual calm manner, the rescue operation of the ISA guards from an Egyptian mob, who tried to take control of the Israeli embassy in Cairo in September 2011. During the long, dramatic hours of the operation, Cohen managed in direct connection with the guards who were besieged in the embassy and with members of the Egyptian security force.

Other than this event, 2011 saw relatively few terrorist attacks, but recently  there was a significant rise in the number of attacks. Most plans of attack do not reach the public's attention because they are thwarted. Thus, hundreds of abduction attempts were thwarted during Cohen's tenure. A single abduction attack, in which three boys were abducted at Gush Etzion junction in the summer of 2014, only illustrates what might happen if the other plots were realized.

Kidnapping and suicide attacks are being thwarted almost on a weekly basis. On some occasions, it happens after the terrorists had already located tunnels to hide the abductees and equipped themselves with anesthesia. Cohen has led to non-stop war against Hamas infrastructure in Judea and Samaria (in cooperation with the Palestinian security forces). Since the beginning of 2016 nine suicide bombings were thwarted. The most severe attack, bus explosion in Jerusalem last month, was attributed to an underdeveloped Hamas infrastructure in Bethlehem. ISA has already charged on this infrastructure, together with the IDF.

The Successor – Nadav Argaman

Obviously, the Palestinian arena is a priority for the ISA. In this respect, nothing has changed under Cohen. The outgoing head of the ISA could not fully regulate the division of responsibilities between the IDF and the ISA regarding the Gaza Strip, but cooperation between the two organizations is strong. ISA contributed significantly to the elimination of Hamas commanders during Operation Protective Edge but failed to eliminate the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif.

The organization took part in the national effort to detect underground tunnels leading from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The ISA led by Cohen managed to get through five years without any significant attacks against Israeli targets abroad and against Israeli airports and aircraft. This is not a trivial achievement, but rather the result of Sisyphean, endless effort. Another Sisyphean effort is the thwarting of the development of the Palestinian military industry, especially the developing of long-range rockets.

Coming Sunday, Nadav Argaman will take office. This time, no arguments will be made against the appointment. The new Head of the ISA served in the elite unit Sayeret Matkal. In terms of his background, his appointment is considered a "natural" one. He "bypassed" no one on his way to the top. And Cohen? Maybe Netanyahu designates another public office for him. Only time will tell.