He was stunned by the precision of the Israeli bombing during the 1964 attack. [16][17] Mossad had carefully planned the tactics that he was to use in building relationships with high-ranking Syrian politicians, military officials, influential public figures, and the diplomatic community. He died in 2009. On the day of his execution, his last wish to see a rabbi was respected by the prison authorities, and Nissim Indibo, the elderly Chief Rabbi of Syria, accompanied him in the truck. they made great efforts to locate the secret transmission to Israel with help of Soviet-made equipment, in January 1965 they got success. He arrived in Israel on February 8, 1957. They had a son, Daniel, and after the Six Day War they celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. He would also lend money to government officials, and many came to him for advice. Concentrate on yourself, looking forward for a better future! Meanwhile, every few days he transmitted important information to his Israeli handlers via a radio transmitter he had hidden in his room. He says the spies wanted him to try and talk to his father's close friends or provide insight. After three months, Eli spoke passable Spanish, knew Buenos Aires well, dressed, and behaved like thousands of Arab immigrants living in Buenos Aires. This week, KAN 11 began broadcasting a documentary series "Lochem 566," (Fighter 566, Cohen's Mossad codename). "Concentrate on yourself; look forward to a better future!". Despite her criticism of the series, Ben-Dor said she understood why the shows creators took artistic license with her fathers story. The Baath party was rising to power and Eli Cohen wanted to be there when it took power. Despite being away from home for months at a time, he fathered three children, Sophie, Irit and Shai. had 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. He was convicted in a trial without a defense and sentenced to death. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. [31] A memorial stone has been erected to Cohen in the Garden of the Missing Soldiers in Mount Herzl, Jerusalem. The three major tributaries of the upper Jordan River the Dan, the Baniyas, and the Hatzbani all originate in the Golan. children: Irit Cohen, Shai Cohen, Sophie Cohen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxhaPGREa74. The husband hunters among the Damascus rich and influential flocked to the handsome Taabet, hoping that their almond eyes, Byzantine beauty, and olive skin would secure a future of wealth and power: He became the most sought-after bachelor in the Syrian capital. 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. He ultimately complied. Cohen would then send intelligence back to Israel using a hidden radio transmitter. That is, until Meir Dagan took over as chief. Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Spy. On January 24, 1965, Syrian intelligence broke into his home in the middle of a transmission. Israel could not survive without Jordan's water. when you were three, your family left Lebanon and moved to Egypt Alexandria. According to the report, Mossad agents were on their way to Auckland, with one text saying: "Wait for our partners to arrive before making a decision.". Nadia Cohen attempted to appeal for clemency at the Syrian Embassy in Paris but was turned away. "You know, when I was growing up, I heard a tremendous amount about your husband. As Intelligence Chief Meir Amit said, Eli succeeded far beyond the capabilities of most other men.. In 1957, Eli joined the Israel Defense Forces as a counterintelligence analyst and later applied for the Israeli intelligence agency 'Mossad,' which rejected him. Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel, 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved, Sophie Ben-Dor (Screen capture: Channel 12 News), This undated photo shows Israeli spy Eli Cohen in Syria wearing a wristwatch recovered by the Mossad in 2018. Eli's wife Nadia, played by Hadar Ratzon Rotem, has to deal with raising two children without her husband, who disappears for up to a year at a time without being allowed to tell her what he's actually doing or even where he is. Eli did go back to Syria, but his behavior changed. He worked as an accountant and translator. It is for these reasons Eli Cohen is known as Israels greatest spy. 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. Cohen (Sacha Baron Cohen) was the kind of guy to leave his wife spontaneous love letters throughout the house. The Spy, a six-part Netflix miniseries about Cohen's life, showcases the legendary Mossad agent's relationship with his wife, Nadia (Hadar Ratzon Rotem). Khalid al-Hafidh, a Syrian migrant living in Auckland, claims to be the son Amin al-Hafiz, a Syrian leader who presided over the country during Cohen's execution and his subsequent secret burial. He has reached the apex of success, and it seems that there is no door he can't open. Because of that, perhaps he just tired of the whole charade. The Golan is not only important for its military significance. Employment was not always steady, and he soon had to rely more on Nadia to help support their marriage, which would quickly lead to children. In 2016, Nadia told 'Israel Radio' that former 'Mossad' chief Meir Dagan had asked the US officials to help bring Elis remains. Already a member? one after the other 69 people were arrested. In February 1961 one man handed him an Israeli passport in his real name and a plane ticket to Zurich.on his arrival, Eli was met by a white-haired man who gave him a passport from another name, that passport carried an entry visa to chile and a transit visa to Argentina. At times before the civil war, the Syrians used Israels northern border with Lebanon to harass Israel the way they used to from the Golan Heights. He was driven to the airport, where his wife Nadia saw him off. Click the link in that email to complete registration so you can comment. This is adefinitive andfinal verdict. He then moved to Damascus in February 1962, under his new identity, Kamel Amin Thaabet, to extract classified information from Syrian military officers. "I want to ask wasn't Eli worth the price? For as little as $6/month, you will: Were really pleased that youve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. According to an unconfirmed but widely believed story, he feigned sympathy for the soldiers exposed to the sun and had trees planted at every position, placed to provide shade. Al-Gamal was born in 1927 and aspired to become an actor. In Episode 5, Maurice puts the clues together when he covers for the regular analyst that communicates with Cohen using Morse code. Eli had lost his friends, in 1957 he immigrates to Israel. In the show, Cohenas Thaabetbefriends Hafiz in Buenos Aires and later in Damascus helps Hafiz's Ba'ath party seize power. - From Eli Cohen's last letter to his wife Nadia and his children, written an hour before his execution in Damascus. It, however, did not change the situation. "He began writing the number but stopped abruptly and, looking flushed and flustered, mumbled under his breath about needing to run out to the supermarket before it closed. [29] Mossad director Yossi Cohen presented it to Cohen's family in a ceremony, and it is currently on display at Mossad headquarters. From the creation of Israel through, the present day, Syria has been one, if not the most, implacable of Israels enemies. It was after Atassi resigned on July 27 that Hafiz was named president. He soon became accepted, well-liked, and respected, and made contacts with politicians, diplomats and military officials working out of the Syrian Embassy. To establish his cover, Cohen moved to Buenos Aires in 1961. The previous year, which marked Elis 50th death anniversary, Nadia had addressed a memorial dedicated to him. They observed a period of radio silence, in the hope that any illegal transmissions could be identified. Eli Cohen was first sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to establish his cover as a Syrian emigre. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Nadia and Eli Cohen pictured in the 1960s The 41-year-old was brutally hanged in Marjeh Square in Damascus in front of a crowd of 10,000 people, in May 1965 - and despite his last request to have his body returned to Israel, the Syrian authorities have to this day never disclosed the whereabouts of his remains. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. Cohen later. The daughter of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen said Sunday "it hurt" to watch the new Netflix series about her father's life and execution in Syria, lamenting some historical inaccuracies in. The alleged son says the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) contacted him two years ago believing he has clues to the secret location, which his father had apparently taken to the grave. At Kfar Habad, on July 29, 1977, at the joint Bar Mitzvah for 100 fatherless boys, in the presence of Prime Minister. HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - A Netflix drama about Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who infiltrated the Syrian government in the 1960s and was later executed, has received a . [11] Start with Mossad [ edit] Eli studied at a local Jewish community school and then attended the 'University of Alexandria' to study electrical engineering. He had been repeatedly interrogated and tortured. At these parties, Cohen "dispensed free-flowing liquor and prostitutes",[1] and highly placed officials would openly discuss their work and army plans. Today, one can see the former Syrian bunkers that remain on the Golan Heights from 1967 (as well as the tanks from 1973). Scheffeldt said that her husband never revealed his true identity, and she learned of it only after a television series aired in Egypt that described him as a national hero. He was interrogated and tortured. Given their history of a paper trail, its fitting but heartbreaking to learn that their final exchange also took place over written correspondence. One day they took Eli to visit the Syrian positions along Israel's border. He was a legend," I declare. Were they not interested? [11], The Mossad recruited Cohen after Director-General Meir Amit, looking for a special agent to infiltrate the Syrian government, came across his name while looking through the agency's files of rejected candidates, after none of the current candidates seemed suitable for the job. Eli was arrested but soon released due to a lack of evidence. Egyptian authorities uncovered the spy ring and sentenced two of the members to death. Spouse/Ex-: Eli Cohen (m. 1959-1965) children: Irit Cohen, Shai Cohen, Sophie Cohen Born Country: Iraq Family Members Iraqi Female Life with Eli Nadia (born Nadia Majald) is an Iraqi Jew who got married to Eli on August 31, 1959. In an interview with Newshub, Al-Hafidh now says he is willing to reveal the information without the financial reward, as long as the Cohen's relatives finally have their peace. Cohen was released because he was not linked with the underground. Eli Cohenbecame certain that Israel had spied in the Syrian government. The Spy alternates between Cohens risky schemes with Nadias far more ordinary life. For more than 50 years, Nadia has fought to have her husbands body returned to Israel. 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. As we saw, the Syrians continually harassed Israels northern settlements from 1948-67. In January 1965, Syrian security services broke into Eli's apartment, where he was caught while he was escaping to Israel. He became a confidante of George Saif, high up in the Ministry of Information. His wife, Nadia, would be left a widow with three very young children. I send you my last kisses to you and to the children: Sophie, Irit, and Shaoul, and to the rest of my family, especially my mother. He also requested her to remarry so that their children would have a father and she would have a partner. But in 1965, he was unmasked. For 19 years, Jewish settlements in the north were under constant threat of Syrian guns. Cohen was born and raised in Egypt and was expelled to Israel in 1956. The children could not react to Eli's absence. Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, reacts during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel October 6, 2019. . But he refused). Prior to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution, Cohen was arrested and interrogated over his Zionist activities. For four years, Cohen posed as a Syrian textile businessman named Kamal Amin Thabet, first in Argentina and later in Damascus. A month later, a Syrian officer would say that one of Israel's attack architects had been Eli Cohen, who was in Israel during the battle. Sophia Cohen the 26-year-old daughter of billionaire hedge funder and Mets owner Steve Cohen is no longer engaged to her financier boyfriend Jason Levine, Page Six has confirmed. This article was originally published in May 2005 and republished to coincide with the release of "The Spy" - a Netflix series about Eli Cohen's life. One of them was Colonel Amin al-Hafaz, a supporter of the secular-leftist Baath party. Israeli spy who was captured and executed in Syria, that enabled them to destroy the equipment prepared for the task, "Israel's Secret Operation to Recover the Watch of a Legendary Spy", "Rumors fly that body of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen was found", "Eli Cohen, notre agent "top secret" Damas", "Mossad's master of deception: the astounding true story of Israeli super-spy Eli Cohen", Widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen: Netflix drama 'raises my blood pressure', "Unending agony for legendary spy Eli Cohen and his widow", "Israel's secret war against Hitler's scientists", "The History of Elie Cohen: An Egyptian Jew who became Israel's greatest spy", "Will Israel's superspy finally rest in peace? He organized several protest campaigns against the British rule. "The moment that they informed me [of the watch's recovery] my mouth went dry and I got the chills," Nadia told Israeli TV. Israeli intelligence was particularly excited about Cohen . He remembered and passed on to Israeli Intelligence the positioning of every Syrian gun, trench, and machine-gun nest in each Golan Heights fortification; tank traps, designed to impede any Israeli attack, were also identified and memorized for future targeting.. When Intelligence came by a second time, he jumped at it. In 1951, he was arrested and interrogated over his Jewish and Zionist activities that he was carrying out under the tutelage of Alexandria's chief rabbi. He had also participated in various Israeli furtive operations in the country during the 1950s. Eli Cohen's daughter Sofia Ben-Dor was excited about it because that is all they have. In August 2008, Assad's former bureau chief, Monthir Maosily, revealed that Eli had been buried thrice and that Israel would never receive his body. Revealed: The Plan to Expand the Israeli Knesset by More Than Double, Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Every morning, Eli would leave home and head for the Aman training center. 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. Eli's second instructor Yehuda taught him how to use a small, sophisticated radio transmitter. [12][20][21] Cohen was able to find out that the Syrians planned to divert the Jordan River headwaters in an attempt to deprive Israel of water resources, providing information to Israeli forces that enabled them to destroy the equipment prepared for the task. Monthir Maosily, a former bureau chief for Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, claimed in 2007 that Hafiz and Cohen were not as close as was made out and that stories of Cohen infiltrating the very top of Syrian politics "had been exaggerated to undermine Syria, as if he was a spy who had transmitted Syria's deepest secrets.". Sacha Baron Cohen in 'The Spy' as Eli Cohen. Again, I. No film or video was previously known to exist of the execution. They successfully detected radio transmissions and were able to triangulate the transmitter. [18], Cohen made repeated visits to the southern frontier zone, providing photographs and sketches of Syrian positions. However, running a double agent is considered to be one of the most complex missions in intelligence work. As depicted in Episodes 4 and 5 of The Spy, Cohen aligns with Hafiz and the Ba'ath political party to overthrow the reigning government of Syria in March 1963. Even today Syria refuses to return his body for burial in Israel. The next day he comes to Hassan's office and admitted that he is sick and tired to live in Argentina, he wanted to go back to Syria, could he help him with a letter of recommendation? Al-Hafidh wanted a million dollars for his services, texting: "1M for the minimum for kick start. Even after the blown operation led to the demise of the Operation Susannah spies, Eli Cohen left Egypt for Israel to undergo intensive espionage training in the summer of 1955. [12][16], In 2016, a Syrian group calling itself "Syrian art treasures" posted a video on Facebook showing Cohen's body after his execution. After several days, Eli got a new identity as Kamal Amin Tablet, son of Syrian parents, born in Beirut. He had three brothers. Maurice Cohen told his brother he had a new phone line installed in his house and "gave the number of his apartment in Damascus, which I had received in a message just before he'd come home.". Israel could be the target of an aggressive attack by a larger, better Egyptian army that wanted to avenge its shameful defect in the Israel Independence War. [27] Syrian authorities have repeatedly denied family requests for the remains. Cohen wasnt allowed tell anyone of the plans and told his wife that he was working abroad for Israels Defense Ministry. He escaped punishment due to lack of evidence. 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 actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has a . Irit does not know her father. Melita Norwood | longest-serving British spy | Melita Norwood Book, Death, Family, Daughter | melita norwood images. In 1967, the Israelis were able to conquer the Golan Heights in two days in part due to the intelligence he provided. 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. He took on the name Kamel Amin Thaabet and went to live in Argentina for some time to build a name for himself in the Syrian expat community. 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 the man for the job. A number were only released 14 years later, after the 1967 War. On July 5, 2018, media channels announced that Elis wristwatch had been retrieved from Syria, which was later given back to Eli's family by 'Mossad' in a ceremony. Israeli foreign minister Golda Meir led a campaign urging Damascus to consider the consequences of hanging him. Sign in to stop seeing this, Sara Netanyahu accosted by protesters at Tel Aviv hair salon, extricated by police, Brides joy turns to sorrow after Elan Ganeles killed driving to her wedding, Hiker discovers 2,500-year-old ancient receipt from reign of Purim kings father, Netanyahu compares Tel Aviv protesters to settlers who set fire to Huwara.