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Mo News

Israel’s Spy Master Speaks: Yossi Cohen on Secret Ops, Iran, Hamas and the War for Global Opinion

Mo News

@mosheh / tentwentytwo

News, Daily News, News Commentary

4.92K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The former head of the Israeli Mossad spy agency, Yossi Cohen, joins Mo News for a rare, candid interview about Israel’s security challenges and the region’s shifting landscape. Cohen led the agency from 2016 to 2021, overseeing the theft of Iran’s nuclear archive, covert operations that damaged Tehran’s missile and nuclear programs, and back-channel negotiations that paved the way for the Abraham Accords. He is the author of a new book, The Sword of Freedom, discussing his career and the state of the region. Now out of government and weighing political ambitions, he reflects on his tenure and the lessons of the past two years. We discuss: The state of Israel’s fight with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran after the 12-Day War — and how much damage was done to Iran’s military and psychological capacity. The October 7 intelligence failure and why Israel missed warnings about Hamas. The damage to Israel’s reputation, with rising anti-Israel sentiment, accusations of war crimes and surging antisemitism worldwide. Behind-the-scenes negotiations with Arab leaders, Saudi Arabia’s potential as Israel’s most influential partner, and the future of a Palestinian state. His view of Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump— and when he thinks the war in Gaza will end. Why Mossad is blamed in so many conspiracy theories — like Jeffrey Epstein and the death of Charlie Kirk. Thanks To Our Sponsors:  – ⁠LMNT⁠ - Free Sample Pack with any LMNT drink mix purchase –⁠ Industrious⁠ - Coworking office. 50% off day pass | Promo Code: MONEWS50 – Surfshark - 4 additional months of Surfshark VPN | Code: MONEWS – Leesa – 25% off mattress, plus extra $50 off | Promo Code: MONEWS – Factor Meals – 50% your first box plus free shipping | Promo Code: monews50off – Monarch Money - 50% off your first year | Promo Code: MONEWS 🐝 This podcast was recorded from the Mo News office at Industrious at Midtown on 50th St. Mosheh Oinounou (@mosheh) is an Emmy and Murrow award-winning journalist. He has 20 years of experience at networks including Fox News, Bloomberg Television and CBS News, where he was the executive producer of the CBS Evening News and launched the network's 24 hour news channel. He founded the @mosheh Instagram news account in 2020 and the Mo News podcast and newsletter in 2022.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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1:05.5

Hey, everybody. It is Tuesday, September 23rd. You're listening to the Mo News podcast.

1:09.9

I'm Oswa Nunu here with a special edition for all of you. We have a few brief headlines in an interview in today's editions. Jill and I will be back with a regular daily podcast tomorrow. But today we will be presenting to you a special conversation I had in the last few days with the former head of the Israeli Mossad. Jill and I have both taken the day

1:27.9

off for the Jewish holiday of Roshana, the Jewish New Year. But again, we'll be back tomorrow.

1:32.6

Our special guest today is Yossi Cohen, the most recent former head of the Israeli intelligence

1:37.4

service, the Mossad. Before we get to that conversation, a couple quick headlines we are watching

1:41.6

on this Tuesday, September 23rd.

1:48.4

First, the Trump administration unveiled a controversial new effort yesterday to link rising rates of autism with the use of acetaminopin, the active ingredient in the

1:53.3

painkiller, Tylenol. It came in a report released on Monday. Scientists have studied a potential

1:57.9

connection between acetaminopin slash Tylenol and autism for years.

2:02.8

But the research so far has yielded inconclusive results, leading to this very controversial assessment and declaration by the federal government yesterday.

2:10.6

Federal officials have been reviewing previous research, including an August review by Mount Sinai and Harvard researchers that suggested a possible link

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