Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman leaves role after election

It was a "fantastic job and I worked with fantastic people," Evan Cohen said.

Dr. Evan Cohen with PM Netanyahu (photo credit: GPO)
Dr. Evan Cohen with PM Netanyahu
(photo credit: GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s English-language spokesman, Evan Cohen, announced on Tuesday he is leaving his post to return to academia. Cohen is a linguistics professor at Tel Aviv University.
He told Netanyahu before the September election he would leave when it was over. Because there were no conclusive results, he remained in the position until Monday’s election.
Cohen said Netanyahu and his team wanted him to stay, but the university insisted upon his return to being a professor, which is his career.
It was a “fantastic job, and I worked with fantastic people,” he said.
Cohen was appointed to his position in July. He was born in Durban, South Africa, and moved to Israel at age nine. He said he has tenure at TAU and did not need the job, but Netanyahu saw him interviewed on i24 about Amir Ohana becoming the first gay cabinet minister and recruited him for the post.
“You don’t say no to a prime minister,” Cohen said at the time.