Eli Cohen – The Famous Spy – Kohi , Avishag , Efrat

Eli Cohen was born and raised in Egypt to a Jewish and Zionist family. Following Zionist activities against the Egyptian government, he was expelled to Israel in 1956.

In 1960 he was recruited to join the Mossad for a special mission in which he pretended to be a rich Syrian businessman returning to the country after living in Argentina. The goal was to gather intelligence from high-ranking Syrian politicians and military officials.

In order to be prepared for the mission, Cohen had to learn to speak Arabic in a Syrian accent rather than his native Egyptian. 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 community.

While his staying he gained the trust of Amin al-Hafez, who would later become the president of Syria.

Cohen wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about his mission and even told his wife he was working abroad for Israel’s Defense Ministry. He returned home to his family only a few times during his mission.

In February 1962, Cohen moved to Damascus. He was quickly able to infiltrate the highest levels of Syrian society. He used to entertain high-ranking politicians and military officials at extravagant parties where drunk guests often started to talk about their work to Cohen. He made friends with many of the guests and received classified military briefings and visited Syrian military sites. Cohen immediately sent intelligence back to Israel using a hidden radio transmitter.

On his last visit, in 1964, he felt insecure but again went back to Syria one last time…unfortunately the following year Syria found out about Cohen by tracing his intelligence transmission to Israel.

He was convicted in a trial without defense and sentenced to death. Cohen was hanged publicly on May 18 ,1965. His Body and his remains have never been returned to Israel.

It is claimed that the intelligence that Cohen gathered was an important factor in Israel’s success in the Six-Day War. He saved the lives of many soldiers and became a national hero in Israel.