Born in
Samarkand in the
Soviet Union (today in
Uzbekistan), Cohen made
aliyah to Israel in 1973. He gained a BA in business administration at the Center for Academic Studies in
Kiryat Ono and took a two-year course at the Institute for Local Government in
Bar-Ilan University. Cohen served as deputy mayor and acting mayor of
Ramla, and chaired the city's Organisation for Prisoner Rehabilitation. He has also been a member of the city union on Secondary Education, the Ayalon Sewage Programme, the Ayalon Fire Department and the board of Amal College. He was first elected to the Knesset on Shas' list in
1999 and chaired the Public Petitions committee. He retained his seat in the
2003 elections, after which he chaired the State Control and Economic Affairs committees. He was re-elected again in
2006 and served as a Deputy
Speaker of the Knesset. In 2006 he won the Quality of Government Badge for legislators. He retained his seat in the
2009 elections after being placed fourth on the Shas list. He was re-elected again in
2013. Prior to the
2015 elections Cohen announced that he would not contest the elections and would leave the Knesset. In 2016 he was investigated for allegations of corruption, following an investigative report on
Israel Channel 2. The case was closed in June 2021 due to difficulties in collecting evidence. ==References==