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.
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.
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.
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