Published: 5 April 2021
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Packer and Cohen made headlines in the context of Case 1000, when in late 2018 it was revealed that when Cohen was the NSC head, Packer bought him seven tickets worth thousands of shekels for the Israeli performance of singer Mariah Carey, Packer’s ex-fiancee.
Cohen reportedly stayed in Packer’s hotel room in Tel Aviv at the same time that Yair Netanyahu, the prime minister’s son, was staying at the hotel. Cohen was summoned to the Civil Service Commission for an inquiry, but the attorney general decided not to pursue the case.
Hadas Klein, Milchan’s assistant, told investigators that Cohen would come to swim in Packer’s pool in Caesarea and smoked his cigars. She said Cohen was afraid that Netanyahu would learn about the visits and cancelled once when he found out that Sara Netanyahu was coming to visit the Australian billionaire.
Klein also testified that Cohen told her that in one instance he himself bought 1,800 shekels ($A720) of cigars for Netanyahu. Cohen denies it.
The ties with Packer and Milchan became significant towards the end of Cohen’s tenure as head of the NSC. At the time it seemed as though N. was the main candidate for Mossad chief.
According to a former senior defence official, Cohen went on a three-week vacation during which he was in contact with BSI, a cybersecurity firm connected to Packer and Milchan, about becoming the director or a partner in the company.
Milchan had started BSI in 2008 together with Indian billionaire Ratan Tata. Tamir Pardo, Cohen’s predecessor as Mossad chief, told Case 1000 investigators that in 2011 Milchan asked Pardo to meet with Tata and asked that Cohen be present at that meeting. Pardo refused.
FULL STORY The (mis)adventures of Mossad chief Yossi Cohen (Haaretz)
Photo: James Packer (Tracey Nearmy/AAP); Yossi Cohen (Moti Milrod and Emil Salman);
