He had an input into and an impact on Syrian national defense and was privy to almost all their secrets. Out of fear of being caught, Eli expressed his wish to visit Israel in November 1964, to pass on information and also witness the birth of his third child. Show creator Gideon Raff's limited series has brought renewed attention to the life and work of Eli Cohen. He also held parties at his home, which turned into orgies for high-placed Syrian ministers, businessmen, and others, who used Elis apartment for assignations with various women, including Defense Ministry secretaries, airline hostesses, and Syrian singing stars. At these parties such highly-placed officials would talk freely of their work and army plans. Israel has had a quiet northern border on the Golan with the exception of some occasional fallout from the Syrian civil war for more than 40years. Why Mossad's Retrieval of Eli Cohen's Watch Matters - SOFREP One of his friends found a new job as an accountant, month later he Marty with Nadia, a nurse of Iraqi origin. He worked as an accountant and translator. He also requested her to remarry so that their children would have a father and she would have a partner. The Spy sees a friendship blossoming between Eli Cohen and Amin al-Hafiz, the future president of Syria, that begins as Cohen first goes undercover as Thaabet in Buenos Aires and mutually benefits them both for yearsright through to Cohen's discovery as an Israeli spy and subsequent execution. 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. After three months, Eli spoke passable Spanish, knew Buenos Aires well, dressed, and behaved like thousands of Arab immigrants living in Buenos Aires. From the creation of Israel through, the present day, Syria has been one, if not the most, implacable of Israels enemies. He sent intelligence to Israel by radio, secret letters, and occasionally in person; he secretly traveled to Israel three times. His fathers name was Amin Taabet, and his mothers Saadia Ibrahim. they let him see fortification and the bunkers, weapon concentrated in the area, and their offensive plans.l lieutenant. [9], In 1959, he married Nadia Majald, born circa 1935,[10] an Iraqi-Jewish immigrant and the sister of author Sami Michael. Eli Cohen was born in Egypt in 1924 to Jewish parents, who had migrated to Alexandria from Syria. While there are reports that Cohen hosted parties that would devolve into orgies at his apartment, in order to gain the trust of high-level people in power, there's no concrete evidence that he played a role in the March 1963 coup. 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. According to Scheffeldt, Cohen and al-Gamal were arrested together in 1954 and released shortly after. Given their history of a paper trail, its fitting but heartbreaking to learn that their final exchange also took place over written correspondence. Please try again or choose an option below. When the Golan was captured in 1967, at almost the end of the Six-Day War, settlers in the north could finally feel relieved. This is adefinitive andfinal verdict. Nadia, widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, reacts during an interview with Reuters in Herzliya, Israel October 6, 2019. . The Ba'athist coup and Eli Cohen's role. Nadia Cohen: The Untold Story of the wife of Eli Cohen their chief noticed that their decision taken by the government was broadcast to Israel. "I was cooperating with the New Zealand Secret Intelligence Service, in cooperation with the Mossad, in order to help find the remains of the Israeli spy Eli Cohen," he said. I give you my blessing. His family is now settled in Bat Yam. Cohen was then informed that Mossad had decided to recruit him and underwent an intensive six-month course at the Mossad training school. In 2019, Netflix created the seriesThe SpystarringSacha Baron Cohen to tell his story. "There was great excitement because it is essentially the only item of dad that came back, we have nothing. The 2019 'Netflix' miniseries 'The Spy' had actor Sacha Baron Cohen portraying Eli. Text messages sent from an NZSIS agent called "Carl" appear to show him brokering a deal. I am writing you these last words, minutes before my end, with the hope that you stay together forever. you lived with your uncle and worked as a travel agency, later were very successful. 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. The news spread everywhere that the Syrian leader is a spy, a president friend, a millionaire. In 1963, during a business trip to Germany, he met Weltrude Scheffeldt, a divorcee, then 22 and with a small child, and married her. He even trained at the same facility that had served as home to his doomed Susannah compatriots in 1953. He returned to Egypt in 1956 but was suspected immediately and was placed under surveillance. Cohen accepted the calling. Intelligence created a completely new identity for him. The newly appointed Syrian intelligence colonel, Ahmed Su'edani, disliked Eli. (Israel GPO), President Reuven Rivlin and Nadia Cohen, at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the death of Mossad super spy Eli Cohen, May 18, 2015. Today, one can see the former Syrian bunkers that remain on the Golan Heights from 1967 (as well as the tanks from 1973). He was quickly able to infiltrate the highest levels of Syrian society. 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. Eli could watch the entrance to the Syrian government officials' guest house. Nadia, however, never remarried. [27] Syrian authorities have repeatedly denied family requests for the remains. Two of them were Abraham and Maurice. If you've already watched all of The Spy and are curious to know more about Cohen, then these accounts of the real-life Cohen might make for curious reading. The transmissions became longer as well. In early 1961, Chaim Herzog, Chief of Military Intelligence and later president of Israel, signed the document authorizing Cohens use as a spy. Registering also lets you comment on articles and helps us improve your experience. In the final episode of The Spy, Cohen's brother Maurice, a Mossad analyst, confronts him after discovering he is the secret Agent 88 in Damascus. Cohen had aided the unit and was implicated, but they found no link between him and the perpetrators. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen heads to Germany Tuesday as part of Israel's campaign to halt Iran's . he soon became a well-known figure in the Arab circle. A year later, in 1965, Cohen was caught transmitting over the radio back to Tel Aviv. Diplomats, prime ministers, parliamentarians, and Pope Paul VI tried to intercede. It, however, did not change the situation. Eli was caught in the act and there was nothing he could do. Eliyahu (Eli) Cohen, an Egyptian Jew, was born in Alexandria in 1924. Kamal Amin Tabet hosted a glamorous party in Damascus, several ministers, a large number of general and colonel, top leaders of the Baath party, businessmen. 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. Fortunately, several were easy to spot, for they . "This cooperation brings significant benefits to New Zealand's national security, we help them (Mossad), and they help us," they added. become close friends. China Offering Cutting Edge Type 052D Destroyers For Export: Are Algeria and Russia its Most lIkely Clients? Likud MK Eli Cohen Federation of Local Authorities conference in Tel Aviv, December 8, 2022. 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. He was a legend," I declare. Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on December 26, 1924. He was also allowed to write a final letter to his wife. 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. The three major tributaries of the upper Jordan River the Dan, the Baniyas, and the Hatzbani all originate in the Golan. when you were three, your family left Lebanon and moved to Egypt Alexandria. Once registered, youll receive our Daily Edition email for free. In 1959, he married Nadia Majald, born circa 1935, [10] an Iraqi-Jewish immigrant and the sister of author Sami Michael. He is being executed according to the two articles 158 and 159 of the military penal code, and articles 271, 272, and 274 of the general penal code. In exchange for his freedom, he agreed to work for Egypt's intelligence service. He would also lend money to government officials, and many came to him for advice. For the next two years, he worked as a filing clerk in a Tel Aviv insurance office. Nadia wishes to be buried beside Elis grave. Syrian counterintelligence eventually uncovered the spy conspiracy and convicted Cohen under pre-war martial law, sentencing him to death and hanging him publicly in 1965. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As a young adult, he worked within Egypt to secretly assist other Egyptian Jews in emigrating to Israel. [9] The governments of Belgium, Canada, and France tried to persuade the Syrian government to commute the death sentence,[25] but the Syrians refused. This helped the army win the Six-Day War and capture the Golan Heights. In 1961, Eli was sent to Buenos Aires in the guise of a Syrian textile businessman. They even started to organize a ceremony for Eli at the 'Mossad' headquarters in Glilot. 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. I give you my blessing. Also in Episode 5, viewers see Hafiz assume power after demanding the resignation of Syria's then-president, Nazim al-Qudsi. Hafiz ordered Cohen's execution after he was convicted of espionage in 1965. For more than 50 years, Nadia has fought to have her husbands body returned to Israel. Eli expressed his fear and wish to terminate his assignment in Syria during his last visit to Israel in November 1964. It takes just a few seconds. Cohen was born and raised in Egypt and was expelled to Israel in 1956. Cohen was caught and eventually executed by Syrian authorities in 1965. 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). In February 1962, Cohen moved to Damascus. The border with Syria was heating up as well. He wasnt even drafted into regular service but was placed in a reserve Israeli Air Force formation as a logistics clerk. Perhaps he wasnt allowed into the security service due to his Military Intelligence evaluation some years before. Cohen's training was long and exhausting. The Syrians have consistently refused to do so. - From Eli Cohen's last letter to his wife Nadia and his children, written an hour before his execution in Damascus. Eli Cohen | My Jewish Learning [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. But in 1965, he was unmasked. [4] His father had moved there from Aleppo in 1914. 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.. But the intelligence officers convinced him to go back one last time. 'I know where Eli Cohen is buried,' says alleged son of ex - ynetnews In The Spy, based on the true story of Israeli agent Eli Cohen, comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen takes on a serious role, playing the title character. [26], Monthir Maosily, the former bureau chief of Hafez Al-Assad, claimed in August 2008 that the Syrians had buried him three times to stop the remains from being taken back to Israel via a special operation. [12], He was then given a false identity as a Syrian businessman who was returning to the country after living in Argentina. According to Scheffeldt, al-Gamal wrote in his memoirs of his friendship with Marcelle Ninio, who was sentenced to four years in prison for her role in the Jewish Underground, and also about Eli Cohen. Eli Cohen Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements Nadia Majald, and together they had three children. 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.
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