Mattanya Cohen

By late 2017, Cohen had served in Israel's Foreign Ministry for 26 years, developing a specialization in Latin American affairs.[1] Earlier in his career, he served as a consul at Israel's consulate general in Miami, Florida, with a date of recognition of August 30, 2001, and later served as deputy consul general at the same post.[2][3]

In the six years before taking up his post in Guatemala and Honduras, Cohen headed the training division at MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation.[1] His previous overseas posting had been as Israel's ambassador to El Salvador.[1]

Cohen took up his post as Israel's ambassador to Guatemala and Honduras in 2017.[1] During his first four months, both countries voted against a UN General Assembly resolution opposing the United States' recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and Guatemala announced that it would move its embassy to Jerusalem.[1] Cohen said he had discussed Jerusalem's importance and symbolism with the leaders of both countries from the time he arrived. The Guatemalan decision followed diplomatic efforts that culminated in a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Jimmy Morales.[1]

During a visit to Miami's Riviera Parliament, Cohen addressed members on the history of Israel–Guatemala relations, highlighting Guatemala's role in mobilizing Latin American support for the November 29, 1947 Partition Plan vote and its subsequent embassy relocation to Jerusalem.[3] He also discussed Israeli assistance to Guatemala through MASHAV in agriculture, health, and internal security.[3] Cohen characterized Guatemala as a consistent supporter of Israel in international forums. "It is no secret that Israel suffers in those organizations, but Guatemala has always been by our side," he said.[4]

On Honduras, Cohen worked through what he described as "quiet contacts behind the scenes, with ministers, with parliament members, and the community" to advance the reciprocal opening of embassies in Jerusalem and Tegucigalpa.[5] Honduras recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in August 2019 and opened a commercial office there the following month; Israel opened a representative office in Tegucigalpa in August 2020.[5] President Juan Orlando Hernández ultimately opened Honduras's embassy in Jerusalem in June 2021, and Israel reopened its embassy in Tegucigalpa in November 2021.[6]

Cohen later said he believed Hernández's participation in a 1991 MASHAV leadership course influenced the president's eventual policy toward Jerusalem. According to Cohen, Hernández had personally told him that the tools acquired through the course helped him build his public career.[6] The claimed connection was presented as Cohen's assessment rather than an independently established causal finding.

Among Cohen's most tangible accomplishments as ambassador was overseeing Israel's response to the 2018 Volcán de Fuego eruption in Guatemala. Israel was among the first countries to dispatch a medical delegation to treat the injured, many of whom had suffered severe burns.[4] Cohen subsequently helped oversee a longer-term recovery effort. In 2021, he personally handed deeds to 39 families who received new homes in the Guatelinda housing project in Escuintla, which was built for families who had lost their homes in the eruption. "The State of Israel promised, and we are happy," he said at the handover ceremony, adding that Israel would continue to assist Guatemala.[7]

Cohen also initiated a project to name Guatemalan streets, squares, and parks after Jerusalem, launched following Guatemala's 2018 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The first ceremony was held in Guastatoya, where Cohen attended alongside Mayor Jorge Antonio Orellana Pinto; hundreds of residents, including children, lined the street waving Israeli flags.[8] In October 2021, Cohen inaugurated a street in La Gomera that was described as the 27th such street named in Guatemala in roughly two years, with municipal leaders increasingly requesting to join the project.[9] Guatemalan MASHAV alumni and evangelical churches helped promote the initiative.[8]

Rebeca Permuth de Sabbagh, speaking at the Jewish Community of Guatemala in December 2018, credited Cohen with helping bring about the street-naming initiative: "For this beautiful gesture, we remain indebted to Ambassador Mattanya Cohen, whose excellent work made it come to pass."[10]

Cohen's ambassadorial mandate extended to other sensitive matters. In 2021, Israel's Foreign Ministry acted through Cohen to contact Guatemala's attorney general, seeking action to prevent members of the Lev Tahor group from leaving Guatemala and to advance legal proceedings against the group's leaders, following testimony by Canadian and Israeli victims.[11]

In November 2023, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen indicated his intention to appoint Matti Cohen as the Foreign Ministry's coordinator for hostage-related matters following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. The proposed responsibilities included coordinating the hostages' situation internationally, publicizing their plight, arranging their participation in advocacy delegations abroad, and organizing meetings with senior visitors to Israel.[12] He was described at the time as a senior diplomat whose most recent ambassadorial post had been Guatemala and who had extensive experience in the Foreign Ministry's Latin America division.[12]

In January 2025, the Israeli government unanimously approved, on Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar's proposal, Cohen's appointment as ambassador to Panama, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname.[13]

In 2026, Cohen initiated a medical mission in Panama City's El Chorrillo neighborhood in partnership with Ichilov Aid, Panama's Health Ministry, and the Office of Panama's First Lady. The delegation spent approximately one week at the neighborhood health center, treating around 200 patients per day, donating medical equipment and 200 pairs of eyeglasses, and working alongside Panamanian doctors. The First Lady's office also provided two equipped mobile medical units offering services including mammograms and hearing tests.[14]

Cohen framed the mission as an expression of his broader diplomatic philosophy: "This mission is much more than medical aid — it is an expression of the friendship between Israel and Panama and of the fact that the best diplomacy is built on empathy, solidarity and service that reaches people directly."[14] Panama's foreign minister thanked the Israeli Embassy and medical team, describing the mission as "diplomacy that reaches people, turns into solutions and improves the lives of Panamanians."[14]