Aaron Cohen

Aaron Cohen (born 28 February 1976) is a former Israeli Special Forces operative, California-based counterterrorism consultant and managing director of IMS Security. Cohen was born in Montreal, Canada, and educated at Beverly Hills High School as well as Robert Land Academy in Ontario, Canada.

After high school, Cohen left Los Angeles for Israel, working on a kibbutz before enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces. After a grueling tryout process known as a “gibush,” Cohen was one of the few non-Sabra volunteers accepted into the elite ranks of the Israeli Special Forces. In the mid-1990s, he became a member of the secretive undercover Sayaret (commando) unit known as Duvdevan, ( _he. דובדבן; lit. "cherry") a controversial counter-terrorist unit which runs missions targeting wanted terrorist suspects in the occupied territories of the West Bank, often while dressed as Palestinian Arabs.

After his three-year service, Cohen returned to Los Angeles and launched IMS Security Consultants, Inc., a leading Hollywood VIP protection service which has done security work for movie stars such as Brad Pitt and Kate Moss. IMS has also been instrumental in offering Israeli-style counterterrorist and “active shooter” training to members of local, State and Federal law enforcement, SWAT teams and the U.S. military. As a terrorism expert, discussing matters such as the Virginia Tech gunman massacre, Cohen has appeared live on many news programs, including CNN, Fox News and Court TV.

Aaron Cohen’s first book, "Brotherhood of Warriors: Behind Enemy Lines with a Commando in one of the World’s Most Elite Counterterrorism Units," coauthored with journalist and best-selling author Douglas Century was published by Ecco / HarperCollins in April 2008.

He is the stepson of American film maker Abby Mann. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/28/arts/28mann.php]

ee also

*Duvdevan Unit
*Israeli Defense Forces
*Counter-Terrorism
*Douglas Century

References

* [http://www.mywire.com/pubs/LosAngelesMagazine/2008/03/01/5867033?&pbl=222 "Bodyguard: Aaron Cohen keeps L.A.'s elite out of harm's way. Ask him to take a bullet? That would be missing the point," "Los Angeles" Magazine, March 1, 2008]
* [http://www.forward.com/articles/11884/ "Paparazzi, Beware! Hollywood Stars Have a Secret Weapon: Israeli Commandos" "Forward" newspaper, October 24, 2007] "
* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164497,00.html Transcript of "Special Report With Brit Hume, Fox News Interview on air with Aaron Cohen]
* [http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=9405 Jewish Journal of Los Angeles article, "Security Israeli Style," November 10, 2002] "
* [http://www.vnis.com/story.cfm?textnewsid=2125 "US Homeland Security Industry Expanding" by Mike O'Sullivan in Voice of America News, September 13, 2006]
* [http://www.tmz.com/2007/12/19/brit-needs-an-isralei-stat/ "Brit Needs An Israeli Stat" TMZ.com December 19 2007]
* [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/20/i_c.01.html "Cho Seung Hui's Murderous Rampage at Virginia Tech" CNN International, April 20, 2007]

External links

* [http://www.ims-security.com/ IMS Security Website]
* [http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061236150/Brotherhood_of_Warriors/index.aspx Official Ecco / HarperCollins "Brotherhood of Warriors" site]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Warriors-Behind-Commando-Counterterrorism/dp/0061236152 Amazon.com "Brotherhood of Warriors"]