Police Wrap Up Probe Into Former Foreign Minister Eli Cohen Over Diplomatic Passports

Israel’s Lahav 433 anti-fraud unit has completed its investigation into former foreign minister Eli Cohen and several senior officials from his ministry. The probe began in January 2024, with the attorney general’s approval, on suspicion of breach of trust. It was handled with the involvement of the tax and economic prosecution unit.

According to the investigation’s findings, there is an evidentiary basis against Cohen, his former ministry director-general, and his aide. Police said the case will now go to the State Attorney’s Office, which will decide whether to file an indictment. After the investigation was finished, Lahav 433 chief Meni Binyamin submitted the case summary to police intelligence chief Boaz Blat, who approved it and ordered it sent for prosecutorial review.

Police sources said the evidence points to offenses allegedly committed while Cohen served as foreign minister, including helping associates, among them Yair Netanyahu, obtain passports in violation of procedure. Investigators also said the case is not clear-cut legally. The investigation covered dozens of people and involved the seizure of many documents. Police said technological advances allowed them to extract data that had not previously been accessible.

The affair was first exposed in December 2023 by Haaretz, which reported that Cohen had instructed the issuance of diplomatic passports to influential Likud members whose support could affect their placement on the party’s Knesset list. Cohen denied any wrongdoing, saying that similar passports had been issued in the past to mayors on the same grounds, and that the director-general’s four decisions were justified. He added, “In all my positions in government, the IDF and academia, the law was and will remain my guiding light.”