Eli Cohen
Elijahu (Eli) ben Shaul Cohen ( אֱלִיָּהוּ בֵּן שָׁאוּל כֹּהן; * December 26, 1924 in Alexandria ; † May 18, 1965 in Damascus ) was an Israeli spy .
Many Israelis believe that Cohen's espionage was a major contributor to the success of the Six Day War . In Jerusalem and other Israeli cities streets are named after him.
Life
As a youth in Egypt , Eli Cohen was active in numerous Zionist organizations. After beginning his technical studies, he was recruited by the Hagana in 1944 . Because of Zionist activities, he was expelled from the university and devoted himself to the immigration of Jews to Israel.
He settled in Israel at the age of 33. It was not until the end of 1959, three years after his immigration to Israel, told Cohen, who in addition to Hebrew and Arabic , English and French spoke, that the Israeli secret service Mossad has long been interested in him, and began an agent training .
Espionage
Under the code name Kamal Amin Thabet , Cohen appeared in Buenos Aires in early 1961 with a Syrian passport . As planned, he contacted members of the Arab community. His knowledge of the Arabic language and customs made it easier for him to pose as a wealthy Syrian citizen. There Cohen met the Syrian military attaché Amin al-Hafiz . At the end of December 1961, accompanied by a rich and influential sheikh, he traveled to Damascus via Beirut .
He moved into an apartment in Damascus across from the Syrian army's headquarters . Due to the surrounding embassies and consulates , his radio traffic was unobserved or could not be located for a long time. He converted this apartment into a popular meeting place for the Syrian military and politicians. There they could meet with their mistresses , unobserved by their family . This increased her confidence in him.
Eli Cohen had his own program on Syrian radio and was famous all over the country. He was taken by a Syrian officer on reconnaissance tours to the Syrian-Israeli border in the Golan Heights and visited many Syrian positions with the latest Soviet weapons. Of course, he passed on his detailed information to the Israeli secret service Mossad. He also successfully suggested shading the positions by planting eucalyptus trees. His precise information on armament and the locations of the defenses now marked by trees helped Israel to achieve a quick victory on the Golan Heights .
Neither his family nor his neighbors in Israel knew of his espionage activity. Only his brother, as a Mossad agent, while deciphering the messages from Damascus, found out that Eli was there because he was stuck with personal messages .
On January 24, 1965, Eli Cohen was located and overwhelmed when all radio signal sources with the exception of his battery-operated transmitter fell silent as a result of a power cut or radio traffic ban. This was followed by four months of torture and a show trial . Cohen was sentenced to death by hanging . Petitions for grace from Pope Paul VI. and numerous governments were unsuccessful.
On May 18, 1965, thousands of people in Syria watched the public execution on Martyrs Square in Damascus via television . This met with enthusiastic approval in the Arab states. Since then, Cohen has been revered as a hero in Israel.
The Israeli government tried diplomatic channels to have the body of Cohen brought to Israel. When this failed, four agents were supposed to kidnap the body, but they failed. Cohen was then buried in an undisclosed location. Furthermore, more than half a century after his death, the family, friends and the Israeli government are trying to bring Eli Cohen's body back to his homeland for a proper burial according to Jewish custom .
Receptions
- Eli Ben-Hanan: Eli Cohen. Our man in Damascus. ADM Publishing House, Tel Aviv 1967
- The Impossible Spy (Endpoint Damascus) (TV Movie), 1987
- The Spy (miniseries), Netflix , 2019. The title role is played by Sacha Baron Cohen
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Spy. Retrieved September 7, 2019 .
- ↑ Sacha Baron Cohen leaves Ali G and Borat behind for new Netflix series . In: moviepilot.de . April 12, 2018 ( moviepilot.de [accessed April 12, 2018]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Cohen, Eli |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Cohen, Elijahu; Cohen, Elijahu ben Schaul |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli spy |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 26, 1924 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Alexandria , Egypt |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 18, 1965 |
| Place of death | Damascus , Syria |