Gilad Cohen

Gilad Cohen was born in 1967 in Jaffa

Gilad Cohen was born on October 11, 1967. He is married and has three children, and he speaks Hebrew, English and Portuguese.

He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He later earned a master's degree in security and diplomacy at Tel Aviv University.

Cohen joined the Foreign Ministry cadet course in 1994. He served as political secretary and spokesperson at the embassies in Brasilia and Ankara, and as political counselor at Israel's mission to the United Nations in New York from 2004 to 2008. There he worked on the resolution that set January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and on Security Council Resolution 1701.

From 2008 he held senior posts in the ministry's coordination bureau, where he worked on ties with the Gulf states that led to normalization in 2020 and the Abraham Accords. From 2017 to 2021 he headed the Asia and Pacific division, worked toward relations with Bhutan in 2020 and promoted the "Israel Looks East" policy.

The government approved his appointment as ambassador to Japan in June 2021, and he presented his credentials to Emperor Naruhito in November 2021. In 2024 the city of Nagasaki did not invite him to its atomic bombing memorial ceremony, citing concerns over protests related to the Gaza war.