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From the sunny streets of San Diego to the star-studded City of Angels, Real Life Network’s Daniel Cohen has covered it all. But nothing here in the United States compares to the coverage he has done since moving to Israel.
“If you would have told me in 2008, ‘hey, [in a few years] you’re going to be living in Israel, you’re going to be a dual citizen, you’ll live through a pandemic, you’ll be reporting from the front lines of the aftermath of an absolutely devastating massacre, terror attack’, I would’ve said, ‘I don’t know about that,’” the former Newsmax correspondent said.
Yet, in 2020, Cohen and his wife Paige did the unthinkable, leaving the TV glamour behind (briefly), picking their family up in the middle of a pandemic and moving to the Holy Land. “We’d never been to Israel,” he said. “We’d always wanted to go to Israel. We didn’t want the rapture aerial view of Israel like we wanted to see it on the ground.”
For 11 months the Cohen’s traveled around the country, even spending time with his grandmother who is a holocaust survivor, before Daniel was made an offer from Newsmax to become their first Jerusalem correspondent.
“I have all great things to say about Chris Ruddy and Newsmax being the first ever Jerusalem correspondent in Israel. For them, what a privilege, what an honor.”
During his tenure with the company Cohen covered some of the region’s most poignant news events, including the horrific terror attack on October 7, 2023.
“Our family saying, ‘What are you doing? You have children. There are rockets coming from Hamas. You have Hezbollah directly to the north. You have Houthis and all these different terror groups.’”
As his family in America was asking him to come home, Cohen and his wife boldly decided to keep their family in the war zone – trusting in God to keep them safe. “This is called a ring of fire surrounding Israel,” Cohen said. “All these people, they want to kill me. They want to destroy Israel. They want Israel. And they want to take the land.”
He went on to say, “They were trying to start a jihad, a holy war. And they were hoping that the rest of the world would join them. But Israel has a strong military and God’s hand of protection.”
Cohen was one of a handful of reporters to see what happened to the victims of the October 7 attack. “Being in the first group of journalists that saw the massacre footage, which, my gosh. Letting that into my eyes [was rough]. Just seeing that it’s worse than they even told.”
Today, instead of two-minute hits, Cohen is now creating his own show with Real Life Network. “Brick by brick [we are] creating my own show. It’s called Ground Zero, Israel. It’s connecting what’s happening here that these news stories that people are seeing every day with what the Bible says because it’s all prophetic, it’s all tied together.”
Cohen said he feels his role is to, “Be a watchman on the walls of Jerusalem and to tell truthful stories from this land, to call Hamas terrorists, not freedom fighters like some of our colleagues do.”
He later added of his storytelling, “I want to be a bold truth teller here because Israel needs it. Telling the truth from this land is a radical thing. I watch the news in the United States. I watch Sky News in Britain and the Al Jazeera and it’s like there are two realities of what’s going on here. So, my job is just to continue to be a bold and unapologetic truth teller.”
While Cohen’s bold truths have gotten him banned from Facebook, he says he has no regrets. “My Facebook account has been suspended for over a month because I call Hamas terrorists, and I don’t misspell the word terrorist,” he said.
For those looking to follow in his footsteps Cohen says don’t, instead do this: “Follow the Lord’s leading, put the Lord first and watch and see what he does, because Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘he has his plans [and they] are good. I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, to give you a hope and a future not to harm you.’”
Cohen later added, “Follow the Lord’s leading and blaze your own trail and see what you will do with your life and see what he will do through you.”
On a personal note, I had the pleasure of working with Daniel Cohen, including collaborating on an Easter special. More evident than his faith, is his genuine kindness and compassion for all those who cross his path. He is a thoughtful reporter and anchor who diligently pays attention to the words he selects, which makes his storytelling an art.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
