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Yossi Cohen yesterday officially assumed his role as Israel’s 12th head of the Mossad Intelligence agency, taking over from Tamir Pardo, whose five-year term has come to an end.

Cohen joined Mossad in 1982 and rose through the ranks, developing particular expertise in the recruitment and handling of agents abroad. Although his exact activities within Mossad are not public, several commentators have credited Cohen with spearheading the Mossad’s attempts to thwart Iran’s nuclear development, which are thought to include sophisticated computer viruses and the assassination of key scientists. He has been awarded the Israel Defence Prize for an operation in which he participated. Cohen was appointed to head the National Security Council in 2013 and is thought to have subsequently developed a close working relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Until relatively recently, the name of the Mossad chief remained a secret. However, Netanyahu announced Cohen’s appointment live on television last month. Underscoring the more public face of Mossad, Cohen spoke yesterday as the new head at a farewell gathering for outgoing Mossad chief Pardo. He praised Pardo, saying, “I had the privilege to be your deputy, during which time I spent long days and nights drawing inspiration from you and learning from you what it means to be a deep analyst.”

The event was also attended by President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and many former military and intelligence chiefs. Rivlin said that, “We can’t talk about” all that Pardo has done for several decades, but that, “In the past five years, the security of Israel was placed in your hands more than once.”

Meanwhile, Pardo himself praised all those who work for Mossad, calling them “a concentration of strength, excellence, courage, daring, determination, boundless creativity, wisdom and integrity.”