Eli Cohen, an Egyptian-born Jew, became one of the most legendary spies in Israeli history. In the 1960s, posing as a wealthy Syrian businessman, he penetrated the highest ranks of the Syrian government while working for the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. Over years of careful cultivation, Cohen embedded himself among the movers and shakers of the
Syrian Ba'ath Party, earning the nickname 'Our Man in Damascus'. His remarkable career came to a tragic end in 1965, when Syrian intelligence uncovered his true identity and executed him.
Some time ago, Mister Handmade in Israel and I visited the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, which had only opened in December 2022. Our hour-and-a-half guided tour was fascinating. We got a glimpse into Cohen's family life as well as his work, told through personal stories, original artifacts, and documents, including his very last telegram. The museum has recreated rooms reflecting his home and scenes from his operations in Syria, giving a real sense of how he lived and worked as a spy. It was moving to follow his journey, from his infiltration and intelligence gathering to his capture and execution, and to reflect on the legacy he left behind.
Eli Cohen grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, the son of Syrian Jewish parents. His fluency in Hebrew, Arabic, English, Spanish and French made him an attractive recruit for Israeli intelligence. He travelled to Israel for a brief espionage training course in 1955 and returned to Egypt the following year. In the aftermath of the
Suez Crisis, he was among at least 500 Egyptian Jews expelled from Egypt, eventually settling in Israel in 1957. He worked as a translator and an accountant before once again being recruited by Israeli intelligence in 1960.
Cohen assumed the identity of Kamal Amin Thaabet, a Syrian businessman returning to his homeland after living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. To build up his credentials, Cohen first moved to Buenos Aires and soon gained the trust of senior officials working in the Syrian embassy there. Those included the Syrian military attaché, Amin al-Hafez, who would later serve as president of Syria.
In January 1962 Cohen moved to Damascus where he managed to work his way into the social circles of the Syrian elite. He was able to relay critical intelligence information to Israel and was credited with playing a key role in Israel's success in the 1967
Six Day War, particularly in the capture of the
Golan Heights. He sent intelligence by radio, secret letters, and occasionally in person, secretly travelling to Israel three times.
In January 1965 Syrian counterintelligence identified Cohen's radio signal and apprehended him in the act of sending a transmission. He was interrogated, convicted in a military trial, and publicly hanged in Damascus in May 1965.
The exact location of Eli Cohen's body is unknown. Syrian officials have revealed over the years that his body was actually buried multiple times in order to thwart Israeli efforts to retrieve it. Israel has long lobbied for its return but to no avail.
Despite this, the Mossad was able to retrieve Cohen's wristwatch from Syria in 2018, and it is now displayed in the Eli Cohen Museum, above. In addition, on the 18th of May this year, marking the 60th anniversary of Cohen's execution, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office announced that approximately 2,500 documents and personal items belonging to Cohen were retrieved from Syria in a covert Mossad operation. The collection, constituting the entirety of the Syrian archive on Cohen, included handwritten letters to his family, evidence of communications with senior Syrian officials, photographs from his time undercover, personal belongings such as the keys to his Damascus apartment, and his original will written hours before his execution. Some of the items were subsequently presented to his widow, Nadia.
Eli Cohen is highly regarded in Israel, and many streets and neighbourhoods have been named after him. A memorial stone has been erected to Cohen in the
Garden of the Missing Soldiers in Mount Herzl, Jerusalem.
