Glenn R. Cohen

Glenn Richard Cohen (born October 26, 1964) is an American-Israeli psychologist and former officer of the Mossad (Israel's national intelligence agency).

Following the Hamas attack on Israel of 7 October 2023, Cohen was designated as the first mental health professional to meet returning hostages upon their release, and subsequently led the team of psychologists that debriefed the hostages released from Gaza captivity between November 2023 and October 2025.

Early Life and Immigration to Israel

Cohen was born and raised in New York City. In 1982, he made aliya to Israel, forgoing a basketball scholarship at Brandeis University to do so. After a year studying at Yeshiva, he enlisted to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1984.

Education

Cohen earned his undergraduate degree (B.A) in Psychology and Geography from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his graduate degree (M.A) in Clinical Psychology from Bar-Ilan University, specializing in combat-related PTSD.

Military and Intelligence Career

Israeli Air Force

Cohen graduated from the Israeli Air Force flight academy and served for seven years as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. retiring as Chief Operational Psychologist. He was responsible for the psychological assessment and training of operatives, and advised commanders from the Mossad, Shin Bet, and YAMAM - National Counter-Terrorism Unit - on resilience and peak performance. He also addressed the widespread belief that captivity was worse than death, noting that none of the hostages debriefed had expressed a preference for death over captivity.

Cohen was interviewed on Call Me Back with Dan Senor, a podcast hosted by author and foreign-policy commentator Dan Senor, on the psychology of captivity.

Cohen has also written about post-traumatic growth (PTG), arguing that national trauma can serve as a catalyst for societal renewal. "'Resilience is in the Jewish people's DNA': The man helping Israel's freed hostages heal", The Jewish Chronicle, October 2025. Listed on the Legacy Worthy Honor Roll as a Servant Leader.