NOVEMBER 11 • 2021 | 15

I

n late October, the new U.S. 
Consul General of Israel to 
the Midwest Yinam Cohen 
was in Metro Detroit to attend 
the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah’s 
Annual Dinner. 
 The next day, he joined 
Mark Davidoff, president and 
CEO of The Fisher Group, for 
lunch and conversation at his 
Southfield office. Davidoff pre-
sented Cohen with a gift, the 
autobiography of Max Fisher, 
The Quiet Diplomat.
Cohen, who replaced Aviv 
Ezra this summer, was enjoying 
his first visit to the state and 
already talking about returning 
to enjoy a Detroit Pistons game 
one day. Here are some high-
lights of their conversation.

BACKGROUND
Q: Could you share a little bit 
about your background?
 I was born in Jerusalem. My 
parents were born in Jerusalem. 
My grandparents immigrated 
to Jerusalem in the 1930s from 
Egypt, from Yemen. I feel very 
much committed to continue 
this trend. My son is the fourth 
generation of our family born 
in Jerusalem, although he left 
when he was 1 month old to 
join us in my diplomatic career. 
I joined the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs 15 years ago and 
served three years in Bogota, 
Colombia, where my second 
daughter was born. After three 
years in Colombia, we moved 
to Berlin where I served as a 
spokesperson of the embassy. 
There, I had my third child, 
who is a fifth-grader now in 
Chicago. 
After five years abroad, we 

came back to Israel. I served as 
a policy adviser to the director 
general of the Ministry. My last 
mission was in Madrid, Spain, 
where I served as the deputy 
ambassador. It was three amaz-
ing years, very challenging from 
the political aspects. 
Then, my family returned 
to Israel. I had some jobs in 
Israel, but I think the most 
exciting one was being senior 
policy adviser to then-Foreign 
Minister Gabi Ashkenazi. 
Now, I’m in Chicago. It’s my 
first diplomatic mission in the 
United States. I have the biggest 
territory because I cover nine 
Midwestern states [Illinois, 
Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Nebraska, North 
Dakota, South Dakota and 
Wisconsin], which are very 

big and dispersed. I’m so very 
happy to be here. 

Q: What are your first impres-
sions?
 Midwesterners are very nice 
people, very embracing, very 
warm and very down to earth. 
Chicago is a wonderful city, 
very welcoming, Zionistic and 
very supporting. Being the top 
representative of Israel in the 
Midwest, I consider myself a 
member of the Jewish commu-
nity there. Our kids go to Jewish 
day schools in Chicago.

Q: What have been your impres-
sions of Michigan?
I had breakfast this morning 
with the board of the Michigan 
Israel Business Accelerator. I’m 
very happy about this partner-

ship. I visited the Startup Nation 
Central Europe before living 
in Chicago, and they spoke a 
lot about the connection to 
Michigan. 

PRIORITIES
Q: What are your priorities?
 Business is a major one. At 
the consul, our mission is to 
serve as a facilitator for business 
in the Midwest, in Israel. I see 
myself not only as an ambassa-
dor of Israel here, but also as an 
ambassador of the Midwest in 
Israel, because I want to make 
more and more Israelis under-
stand that there’s a potential 
here for business.
There’s great potential here 
for traditional sectors in Israel, 
such as agriculture and water 
management, but also potential 

Yinam Cohen has his eye on Michigan-Israel business opportunities.

Meet Israel’s New Consul 
General to the Midwest

continued on page 16

JACKIE HEADAPOHL DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL

Yinam Cohen and Mark Davidoff at The Fisher Group office in Southfield. 

JACKIE HEADAPOHL

