Yishai Cohen, an editor, commentator, and presenter on the website 'Kachar Hashabbat', is a veteran journalist in the Haredi media, even though he is very young.
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Cohen, the face most identified with the 'Kachar Hashabbat' website, is considered a prominent Sephardi-Haredi media figure, second only to Avi Mimran of 'Kol Hai' radio, and is a model for young Sephardi people seeking to integrate into the world of media.
Yishai began his journey in the Haredi media as a young boy, while still a student at a small yeshiva in Jerusalem, when he was already struck by the media bug, and he began to frequent the corridors of the Knesset building.
His first job was as a photographer for the news network Hadashot 24. In 2011, about two years after the establishment of Kachar Hashabbat, he joined the site's staff and began working as a reporter. He later advanced to become a political commentator, editor, news anchor and interviewer.
Cohen has been working at Kachar Hashabbat for more than 10 years, and while dozens of reporters and editors have come and gone, he remains on the staff - perhaps the only one from the site's founding generation, besides editor-in-chief Haim Iloz, who is hiding in the tools, and Chaya Cohen from the women's channel.
Cohen is an example of a journalist who persistently strived for his goal, gained experience, and became a prominent figure in the Haredi media. For, while at the beginning of his career he was a young novice who had difficulty expressing himself in precise Hebrew, over the years he improved and became an eloquent speaker.
In 2015, he hosted the program 'Opening an Interest' on 'Kol Bramah' radio, alongside broadcaster Shmuel Ben Atar.
He was one of the first to recognize the event of the Corona crisis, and relentlessly pushed for the ultra-Orthodox public to adhere to the regulations of the Ministry of Health. This position drew harsh verbal attacks on him from violators of the regulations and "trolls" on social media - but he did not give in.
In the past year, against the backdrop of the Corona crisis and the 'Meron disaster', he has been invited to present the Haredi position in interviews on television and radio, participates in panels, and his opinion columns are published on the News 12 website.
For the past two years, since October 2019, Cohen has hosted a weekly video program on the site - 'Closing the Week.' In the program, he interviews politicians and senior public figures, and serves as the site's political commentator. He also hosts a 'one-on-one' interview program.
On the site, he serves as a 'shofar', in the best sense of the word, for the Rishon LeZion, Rabbi Yosef, Torah greats and rabbis of the Sephardic community.
He led, along with other Haredi journalists, a struggle to demand the establishment of a state investigation committee into the 'Meron disaster', contrary to the position of the Haredi MKs - who strongly opposed the establishment of the committee. Even in the 'Western Wall Outline', which had already been approved with the consent of the MKs of the Haredi parties, he was one of the first journalists to wage a struggle against its approval - a struggle that ultimately led to the freezing of the outline.
In 2021, he was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people by the newspaper 'The Marker', alongside senior commentator Yaakov Rivlin from 'Bekhila', and political commentator Sari Roth from 'Haredim 10'.
Cohen is active on the social network Twitter - where he has more than 25,000 followers. He posts his opinions on his account, alongside news, and of course headlines and excerpts from the interviews he conducts for 'Kachar Hashabbat'.
He also maintains a page on the social network Facebook where he mainly publishes excerpts from the interviews he conducted.
