Learn more. In early 1964, Eli was able to radio Tel Aviv that the channel was being dug along the entire length of the Syrian Heights to receive the diverted flow of the Baniyas River - one of the Jordans major sources - and empty into Jordanian territory. Eli carefully spelled out all the details of the project and passed them on to Israeli Intelligence. The Spy alternates between Cohens risky schemes with Nadias far more ordinary life. 4 Min Read. He died in 2009. At Kfar Habad, on July 29, 1977, at the joint Bar Mitzvah for 100 fatherless boys, in the presence of Prime Minister. Decades after the Eli Cohen affair there are still many questions, some minor, others major - among them, the way in which Syrian counterintelligence identified the Israeli spy (from the archive). Meanwhile, every few days he transmitted important information to his Israeli handlers via a radio transmitter he had hidden in his room. In 1960, Cohen was approached by the Mossad for a mission in Syria. On January 24, 1965, Syrian intelligence broke into his home in the middle of a transmission. Once Cohen had established his background, he was inserted into the "target country," Syria, and operated with great success for four years until his capture. He sent intelligence to Israel by radio, secret letters, and occasionally in person; he secretly traveled to Israel three times. Nine months later, in late 1961, Eli came back to Israel for a visit with his wife Nadia. What is perhaps most amazing about Eli Cohen is that he was genuinely liked even loved by so many of the top Syrian leaders. However, Eli's loyalty was scrutinized, and he faced harassment by the 'Muslim Brotherhood.' On 18 May 1965, Eli cohen was woken by the jailer and fastened the noose, and hang up, the huge poster was fastened on his chest where his sentence was written in Arabic. Last Friday marked the 53rd anniversary of the execution of Eli Cohen, the Egyptian-born Israeli spy who burrowed his way so deep into the Syrian state apparatus he nearly came to head it. On January 25, 2000, Nadia presented a picture of a new postage stamp with Elis face, to Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, honoring her husband. He is best known for his espionage work in 196165 in Syria, where he developed close relationships with the Syrian political and military hierarchy.[1][2][3]. Since Eli did not have a steady job back then, even though he worked as an accountant, he had to rely more on Nadia to help support the family and their marriage. The unit bombed unoccupied American and British installations, expecting that this would be considered the work of Egyptians. They married in 1959, a month after meeting, and had three children together. The leading figure in the break-in was the head of Syrian Intelligence, Colonel Ahmed Suedani Elis nemesis. Eli married Iraqi Jewish Nadia Majald, sister of Hebrew author Sami Michael, in 1959. For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members. In the fifties, Israel had launched a project of huge pipeline and canals that would carry a part of the jorden river water to the arid Negev region. In November that year, Nadia, wrote to Syrian politician and former president of Syria (19712000) Hafez al-Assad, asking him to forgive Eli and requesting him to hand over her husbands remains. Hes a trusted friend.. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. [28] The press announced on 5 July 2018 that Cohen's wristwatch had been retrieved from Syria. Eli started transmitting his message to Israel daily at 8 a.m. After six months kamal Amin tabet become well known. "I am the son of the only person on this planet who knows where the remains are buried," he told Newshub in an interview. Nadia Cohen, widow of executed Israeli spy Eli Cohen, speaks to Channel 2 on September 20, 2016 after Syrian opposition forces release new video showing moments after he was hanged in. Eli Cohen was born in Egypt in 1924 to Jewish parents, who had migrated to Alexandria from Syria. Eli Cohen's daughter Sofia Ben-Dor was excited about it because that is all they have. Abdel Latif Hassan immediately wrote four letters one to his brother-in-law, two to friends in Beirut, and fourth to his son in Damascus. In a February 2006 interview with Jewish Magazine, Maurice Cohen said that he informed his brother that he knew he was "our man in Damascus" in an intriguing way, rather than outright confronting him as seen in The Spy. What Netflix's 'The Spy' Gets Wrong About Eli Cohen "- From Eli Cohen's last letter to his wife Nadia and his children, written an hour before his execution in Damascus. Confused, he took the case to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, the official responsible for supervising New Zealand's two main intelligence agencies, telling him he could have solved the 53-year-old mystery. In 1960, he was recruited to join the Mossad for a special mission in which he was to pretend to be a Syrian businessman returning to the country after having lived in Argentina. Elis friendship with Amin al-Hafez proved very valuable. Nadia, however, never remarried. they let him see fortification and the bunkers, weapon concentrated in the area, and their offensive plans.l lieutenant Zaher Al-Din took Eli to the El Hama military camp, where large quantities of new weapons had been stored. he soon became a well-known figure in the Arab circle. Again, I. Get email notification for articles from Yossi Melman, Reproduction of an Israeli stamp being issued to honour the Mossad intelligence agency spy Eli Cohen who was hanged in Damascus. [12], He was then given a false identity as a Syrian businessman who was returning to the country after living in Argentina. In addition, the commander of Syrian Intelligence, Colonel Ahmed Suedani trusted no one and disliked Eli. The Spy's Widow // After many decades, Nadia Cohen is keeping the By Lianne Back. Syria has not even disclosed the location of Eli's grave. Israel desperately tried to have his sentence commuted, and despite requests from world leaders and Pope Paul VI for clemency, Cohen was hanged publicly in May of that year. They had a son, Daniel, and after the Six Day War they celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. In the 1987 TV movie 'The Impossible Spy,' Michal Bat-Adam portrayed Nadia, while in the 2019 'Netflix' series 'The Spy,' Hadar Ratzon-Rotem played her, with Sacha Baron Cohen as Eli. She had no idea about Elis secret mission and thus did not see the threats and risks involved. They married in 1959, a month after meeting, and had three children together. The following year, Syria found out about Cohen by tracing his intelligence transmissions to Israel. But the series did not give al-Gamal enough credit, she said, and this led her to reveal his memoirs, which he wrote in secret and deposited with a lawyer for safekeeping. Saif calmly replied, Theres nothing to worry about. "It works with a range of international intelligence agencies,'' the NZSIS said in response. From the creation of Israel through, the present day, Syria has been one, if not the most, implacable of Israels enemies. Because of that, perhaps he just tired of the whole charade. After weeks of surveillance, he was finalized and was put to training. Using Biton, Israel "fed" Egypt with false intelligence that reportedly contributed to the Six Day War victory. I give you my blessing. In January 1965, Syrian security officers broke into Elis apartment while he was in the middle of his escape to Israel. One of the more famous aspects of his spying regarded a trip he took to the Golan Heights. When Intelligence came by a second time, he jumped at it. Eli seemed to have completed the final stage in establishing his network. One day Cohen was sitting in Saifs office reading a classified document while the Syrian was on the phone. children: Irit Cohen, Shai Cohen, Sophie Cohen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxhaPGREa74. Eli Cohenhad succeeded in friending a Saudi entrepreneur who had been contracted to plan and dig canals, the name was his friend was bin Laden, little Osama's father. Prior to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, Cohen was arrested and interrogated over his Zionist activities. This coincided with the continuance of Palestinian terrorist infiltrators arriving from the Syrian border, along with a continual flow of Soviet technical assistance to Syria. In order to capture the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli soldiers had to knock out a number of well-fortified Syrian outposts. [7] He took part in various Israeli covert operations in the country during the 1950s, although the Egyptian government could never prove his involvement in Operation Goshen, an Israeli operation to smuggle Egyptian Jews out of the country and resettle them in Israel due to increasing hostility in Egypt. He genuinely fit into life in the Syrian capital, and he was never suspected of being a spy until almost the very end. His first assignment was to infiltrate the Jewish community of Alexandria. Concentrate on yourself; look forward to a better future! tabet sends it to Argentina, where his friend dispatches them to Israel with a diplomatic pouch. Eli Cohen was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy best known for his espionage work in the 1960s in Syria, where it was alleged he developed close relationships with the Syrian political and military hierarchy and became the chief adviser to the country's defense minister. Cohen immigrated to Israel in 1957 and was recruited by Military Intelligence, to a unit that later became part of the Mossad. As we saw, the Syrians continually harassed Israels northern settlements from 1948-67. Eli Cohen was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy best known for his espionage work in the 1960s in Syria, where it was alleged he developed close relationships with the Syrian political and military. Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on December 26, 1924, the second of eight children in a family of orthodox Jews. Over the years, Nadia has made several efforts to seek a bit of mercy from Syrian officials. But his knowledge of the Arab language and Arab culture, as well as prior work in espionage in Egypt, made him a good candidate for the Mossad. On April 15, 2019, a few Israeli news agencies published unconfirmed reports of Eli's remains being recovered in Syria and stated that the remains were with a Russian delegation. Eli was caught in the act and there was nothing he could do. Eli's first instructor Yitzhak learned to memorize things, he throws a dozen objects on the table and Eli observe them for a second and described them. He set up a travel agency in Tel Aviv and developed ties with the upper echelons of Israeli society, including politicians. Ben-Dor was pessimistic that Israel would soon be able to retrieve her fathers body from Syria. In exchange for his freedom, he agreed to work for Egypt's intelligence service. How is it that you dare allow a stranger to read a classified document? he angrily asked Saif. In the fifties, Israel had launched a project of huge pipeline and canals that would carry a part of the jorden river water to the arid Negev region. On 18 May 1965, Eli cohen was woken by the jailer and fastened the noose, and hang up, the huge poster was fastened on his chest where his sentence was written in Arabic.Even today Syria refuses to return his body for burial in Israel. He was promised support in any venture he might wish to undertake, and the generous sums of cash which he appeared to possess appealed to the unscrupulous who thought he could provide grease to their financial ambitions, as well as patriotic Syrians who hoped for an infusion of foreign capital into the Syrian state. In a display of generosity, the tabet contributed some money to build a public kitchen for the poor of Damascus. The Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, plans to name one of the buildings in its compound after Eli Cohen - its spy in Syria who was caught in Damascus, tried, convicted and executed 40 years ago. [9], Cohen continued his social life as he had in Argentina, spending time in cafes listening to political gossip. Sacha Baron Cohen-led limited series "The Spy" which comes out today on Netflix tells the true story of how famed Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen went undercover in 1960s Syria. "The Spy" depicts Egyptian-born Cohen - played by Sacha Baron Cohen - as an ambitious, Arabic-speaking immigrant to Israel who is recruited by Mossad and, overcoming his fears and the strains on his family, infiltrates the Damascus high command by posing as a rich scion of the Syrian diaspora. Various reports say that Biton was unveiled and offered the option of becoming a double agent. Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen (Hebrew: , Arabic: ; 6 December 1924 18 May 1965), commonly known as Eli Cohen, was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy. He was also allowed to write a final letter to his wife. From 1948 until 1967, Syria firing mortar shells from the Syrian occupied Golan Heights into the Jewish settlements of the Upper Galilee below. thus Israel needed an agent in Damascus (Sami Micheal, Nadia Cohen's brother was recruited. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library, Cohen publicly hanged in the Marjeh Square, The Pedagogic Center, The Department for Jewish Zionist Education, The Jewish Agency for Israel, 1998 - 2023 American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.