Eliyahu Ben-Shaul "Eli" Cohen (6 December 1924-18 May 1965), also known as Kamel Amin Thaabet, was an Egyptian-Jewish Israeli Mossad agent who infiltrated the Syrian government from 1961 to 1965, becoming the chief adviser to the Ministry of Defense in the process. He helped to sabotage the Syrian Arab Army's Golan Heights defenses (which would lead to the Israeli victory in the 1967 Six-Day War), but he was caught and executed in 1965.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Eli Cohen in 1959
Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt on 6 December 1924 to a Zionist Syrian-Jewish family which was originally from Aleppo. In January 1947, he enlisted in the Egyptian Army rather than pay the same fee that all other draft-exempted Jewish young men were supposed to pay. However, he was declared ineligible for service and was harassed by the Muslim Brotherhood, and his parents and three brothers emigrated to Israel in 1949. In 1951, the new government of Egypt imprisoned Cohen for his Zionist activities, and he took part in Israeli efforts to smuggle Jewish refugees out of the country during the 1950s. In December 1956, he emigrated to Israel, and he briefly served in the IDF counter-intelligence before resigning after Mossad twice rejected his application. He worked as an insurance office filing clerk for two years and married the Iraqi-Jewish immigrant Nadia Majald, settling in Bat Yam. Cohen never felt welcome among the Israelis, who saw him as an Arab immigrant and not an Israeli Jew.
Start with Mossad[]
Eli Cohen training for the Mossad
In 1959, the Israeli diplomat Jacob Shimoni had Mossad agent Dan Peleg recruit a spy to infiltrate the Syrian government after the Syrian military shelled the kibbutz of Ein Gev. Peleg left a letter on Cohen's desk at his job and told him to show up to an address on Allenby Street, purposely leaving the wrong address. Cohen was initially confounded upon his arrival at the address, but he eventually discovered that Shimoni and Peleg were watching him from a nearby building, and he entered that building instead. Peleg and Shimoni asked him if he considered himself a patriot, and if he would be willing to die for his country or lie to his friends and family for his country, and Cohen confirmed his commitments. He was then taken in by Peleg for several months of training, learning to identify key Syrian officials, types of Soviet-made Syrian weaponry and vehicles, to identify spies in a large crowd of people, and other skills. While Peleg warned him that his mission meant that he would have to be separated from his family for a long time, Cohen agreed to the mission, and he told his wife that he had finally been employed by Mossad, although he told her that he was instead being asked to serve as an equipment buyer instead of a spy. In 1961, Cohen was sent to Geneva, Switzerland, where another Israeli agent, Salinger, gave him the identity "Kamel Amin Thaabet", a Syrian businessman who was the son of Amin Thaabet and Saida Abrahim, Syrian parents who moved from Damascus to Beirut for work and gave birth to him there in 1915.
Buenos Aires[]
Eli Cohen in Buenos Aires, 1961
Cohen was then sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, the center of the Arab expatriate community, under the pretense that his father owned a large textile factory on 74 Legazzi Street and that he had inherited the highly successful company after his father died. Cohen became active in Arab social circles at the Club Damasco and other venues, and he worked with fellow spy Julia Schneider to make his way into more influential circles, which led him to meet the Syrian general Amin al-Hafiz. He met al-Hafiz and his head of security Ahmed Suidani at an embassy party, where al-Hafiz's wife felt up Cohen as he introduced himself to her husband. He befriended al-Hafiz, who verified his identity after Cohen told him the causes of death of his parents and the location of their burial sites. Cohen stole a photographer's camera to provide Mossad with images for several of the Syrian people-of-interest on file, and he also looked over several classified documents before avoiding Suidani, who had been sent to inspect the embassy and ensure that the files were safe. Cohen later left to meet up with Schneider at La Paz, but Suidani's security guard followed Cohen after hearing that a camera had been stolen. He chased him to the park, where he observed Cohen handing over the photos to Schneider. The two Israeli spies then pursued the agent to an apartment block, where the agent fell to his death into the courtyard after a scuffle with the two agents.
Cohen at the Syrian embassy
Schneider panicked, and she informed Cohen that he had to abandon his plans to travel to Syria to continue his mission, instead advising him to continue going to Club Damasco. However, Cohen refused, saying that he could avoid suspicion by heading back to the embassy the next day to bring gifts to al-Hafiz and ask for a letter of recommendation. Sure enough, Cohen drove to the embassy and was escorted to al-Hafiz by Suidani, and he bribed al-Hafiz with a winter coat for his wife and a golden watch for him. He then informed al-Hafiz that their previous conversation had made him elated, and that he intended to speed up his plans to travel to Damascus with the help of a letter from Latif. Just then, al-Hafiz gleefully offered to write his own letter of recommendation to Cohen, and Cohen assured al-Hafiz that, when the time came for al-Hafiz to rise in the ranks, Cohen would provide financial support to him. al-Hafiz thanked him, and told him that he had the rare quality of loyalty.
Cohen then returned to the Zurich safehouse, where Salinger and his wife informed Cohen that his wife had given birth, giving him a doll and other gifts to bring to his family. Cohen was allowed to return to Israel to visit his wife and daughter, and he then met up with Peleg, giving him a status update. Peleg was happy about Cohen's theft of the camera bag, which was not part of the plan, but which helped the Israelis; he complimented Cohen's instincts and his judgement. While Cohen said that he wanted to remain at home with his newborn daughter and that he was guilty about the Syrian agent's death, Peleg told him that he was saving lives and not taking them.
Arrival in Syria[]
Cohen on the yacht to Beirut
Cohen then returned to the Zurich safehouse, where he was provided with soap-shaped explosive devices in case he needed them. He was then sent to meet with the Syrian businessman Majed Sheikh al-Ard aboard a yacht bound for Beirut, as Cohen's solo entry into Syria would be suspicious. Cohen met with al-Ard in the dining cabin after inviting him to share a bottle of '45 Mouton Rothschild with him, and, after they introduced each other, Cohen attempted to make conversation by asking his opinion on the chances of a Ba'athist takeover in the aftermath of the fall of the Nasserist United Arab Republic. al-Ard warned him that, while he may have been able to openly discuss politics in Argentina, his public discussion of politics might get him killed in Syria; he then abruptly told Cohen that he was tired and had to sleep. Cohen attempted to speak with al-Ard later that night at his room, offering him a ride from Beirut to Damascus as a peace offering. However, al-Ard politely declined. When the ship arrived in Beirut, Cohen caught al-Ard as he offloaded his Peugeot car, and Cohen complimented the car and expressed his knowledge about the rare vehicle; al-Ard bragged that he was only the seventh person to own it. Before Cohen could bid farewell to al-Ard, al-Ard invited Cohen to ride with him to Damascus, lest his ride be dull; Cohen decided to accompany him. He was introduced to Syrian customs officer Abu Khaldon at the border, and he bribed him with a gold pocket watch before convincing him not to search the trunk of his car, claiming that he had extremely graphic pornography in the back due to his sexual needs as a single man. Cohn then told al-Ard this same excuse, alleviating his concerns and causing him to laugh.
Cohen in Damascus
The two men then drove into the Abu Rummaneh neighborhood of Damascus, where Cohen moved into a luxurious apartment across from the Second Bureau military headquarters on Moussa Ibn Nousser Street. He then sent a Morse signal back to the Mossad headquarters informing them that he had found an apartment; instead of waiting eight weeks to speak with Mossad as instructed, he decided to update them after two weeks. Cohen then purchased all of the tables in Abou Mahmoud's shop so that he could store them at the new warehouse for his front company, Thaabeth Import-Export. Cohen sent valuable photographs and newspaper information to Israel through his import-export company, hiding messages in pottery or in table legs. Over the next four months, he became a leading member of Damascus' business community. He met the Syrian lieutenant Ma'azi Zaher al-Din at a bar while holding a shareholders' meeting for his company, and he befriended him after helping him identify the bartender as looking like the actor Jean-Paul Belmondo; the two of them shared several drinks and laughs, and Cohen was even invited to sit with al-Din and his military friends. Cohen soon grew close to Ma'azi as well.
Celebrations for Nukieb in Damascus, December 1962
On 12 December 1962, Cohen awoke to the sound of celebratory gunfire on the streets as the state radio announced that the Syrians had repelled an Israeli attack on Nukieb in the Golan Heights. He briefly ran into Ahmed Sueidi during a Syrian nationalist rally, but he had to excuse himself after seeing the crowd tear up Israeli flags and celebrate near the corpses of dead Israeli soldiers atop APCs. Upon returning to his apartment, however, Ma'azi told Cohen that the state news spokesman George Seif was lying about the "victory", as the battle was a rout for the Syrians, who lost dozens of men; the dead "Israeli" soldiers were Syrian casualties dressed in Israeli uniforms. Cohen later joined Ma'azi in a drive to the Golan Heights, where he was shown the increased number of Soviet vehicles shipped to the Syrians, and was later introduced to Colonel Salim Hatum. Hatum gave him a tour of the Golan Heights and even encouraged him to shoot at Israeli civilians from a machine-gun bunker, but Hatum stopped him before he was forced to do so, claiming that it was a joke and that doing so would start a war. He later met General al-Din, who immediately took a liking to him and informed him that the Syrian army intended to cut off Israel's water supply by taking Lake Tiberias from them. That night, Cohen snuck into the military barracks and saw Colonel Hatum preparing the soldiers for a surprise attack on the Israeli water main, and Cohen warned the Israelis at Tiberias of the impending attack after sneaking into the Shallal military base. He evaded Syrian troops and warned the Israeli farmer Shmulik, who reached the Safed military base and warned the IDF command about the attack, leading to the Israelis capturing a Syrian unit. Upon hearing of the Syrian defeat the next morning, Cohen reported to Shimoni that he needed 600,000 Syrian pounds to purchase eucalyptus trees as a "gift" for the Syrian Army to mark their mortar positions
Syrian coup[]
Cohen meeting Michel Aflaq
Not long after, however, Sueidani appeared at Cohen's door and told him that his acquisition of powerful friends did not go unnoticed. He then had him come with him to a secret location while blindfolded, and Cohen was introduced to Ba'athist leader Michel Aflaq. Cohen grew suspicious of Aflaq's intentions, asking him if he had brought him to the hideout simply to be quizzed on politics, but Aflaq revealed that it was not he who had called on him; al-Hafiz then appeared and warmly greeted Cohen. He told Cohen that the Ba'ath movement needed Cohen to invite General al-Din and cabinet members Maarouf al-Dawalibi, Bashir al-Azma, Khalid al-Azma, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and others to a party at a specific date in the future with the intention of distracting them from a Ba'athist military coup. He was given the date 8 March 1963 as the date of the party, and, meanwhile, he had the eucalyptus trees planted along the Golan ridges to mark the Syrian mortar positions for the IDF.
On 8 March 1963, Cohen hosted a lavish party at his apartment, and it was attended by the most prominent cabinet members and generals along with several women. While the officers and politicians threw an orgy, al-Hafiz's troops stormed the Second Bureau, the presidential palace, and the radio station, seizing power from the civilian government under Nazim al-Kudsi. Over the course of a year, Cohen rose in the ranks of the Syrian government, befriending Information Minister George Seif. At a celebration of the 18th anniversary of Syrian independence, Cohen secretly followed President al-Hafiz out of the room and found him speaking with the Saudi businessman Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, and Cohen was later told by al-Hafiz to meet with Bin Laden to discuss a secret deal. Bin Laden told Cohen that he needed his help with smuggling in some agricultural machinery from Yugoslavia, but Cohen initially refused, as he demanded that he have knowledge of what he was importing lest it harm his business. As Bin Laden turned to leave, Cohen changed his mind, and he had the Zurich-based Mossad agent Salinger hide a small tracking device in the shipment as it left Split for Syria.
Cohen with Abou Mahmoud's daughter Saliha, 1964
At the same time, Cohen continued courting the merchant Abou Mahmoud's daughter Saliha, whom he had grown close to. However, his personal struggles began to overcome him, as he found that Ma'azi was following him and attempting to confront him about his betrayal. One night, Cohen went to dinner with Saliha, and Saliha brought up her father's inquiry as to when Cohen would propose to her. Cohen stayed silent for the entire meal, as he did not wish to betray his wife back at home. He then walked back to his apartment with Saliha, only to be confronted by Ma'azi outside. Cohen had Saliha enter the apartment as he confronted Ma'azi, telling him that they were still friends, but remaining silent when Ma'azi asked him if he knew that his uncle would be arrested while leaving the party. Ma'azi spat on him and then left, and Cohen returned to the apartment and told Saliha to tell her father that their relationship was over.
Cohen in 1964
Cohen later headed to the docks and ensured that Bin Laden received his agricultural tools, although he made Bin Laden suspicious when he asked if he could accompany him to Shallal; Bin Laden claimed that he did not know of any "Shallal" and left him. That night, Cohen entered the radio offices and went through Seif's drawers while Seif was at Cohen's apartment with his girlfriend, having gained Cohen's permission to use his room as a date location. However, Suidani and several guards caught Cohen in the office and had him taken to al-Hafiz, who lectured Cohen on the importance of water and how Syria controlled the Banias and Hasbani Rivers, which fed Israel's main water source of Lake Tiberias. al-Hafiz then shared how Suidani believed that there was an Israeli spy working against the Syrian government, explaining many of its failed operations. He also said that he was tired of rival politicians talking behind his back, and that he felt that Cohen was family; he then asked him to become chief adviser to the Ministry of Defense.
Later in 1964, Cohen met with Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and told him about the Syrian government's plans to build a pumping station to divert the waters of the Banias and Hasbani Rivers. While Cohen was with his family, the Israeli leadership met to discuss plans to launch an airstrike on the pumping station. Dan Peleg raised the concern that bombing the secretive pumping station (so secret that the Syrian government brought in a Saudi Arabian team to build it) would lead to Cohen being compromised, but Eshkol and even Shimoni naively believed that they should both keep Cohen as Deputy Defense Minister of Syria and carry out the airstrike. The Mossad agent Maya advised that the Israelis launch the strike only after Cohen returned to Syria and accepted the position, and that the Israelis could allow a few minor Syrian victories after his appointment to help bolster his image. While Eshkol and Shimoni were shocked that she spoke out of turn, Shimoni decided that she was right.
Cohen's family life also deteriorated after his brother Maurice, who was coincidentally working at the receiving end of the Mossad Syria Desk's Morse Code machine, deduced that he was "Agent 88" (as Cohen had asked him if the person "N" had received an iron from him); Maurice argued with him at a family dinner after asking him for intricate details about his trip to "Rome". Nadia also grew suspicious over inconsistencies in Cohen's story (such as when he mentioned living in an "apartment" when he claimed to live in hotels), behavior (Cohen had begun smoking in her presence), and sleep (Cohen shouted names like "Ma'azi" and "Saliha" in his sleep). Cohen wanted to quit his work for the Mossad, but Peleg informed him that he would be sent back to Syria shortly, and that he would likely be gone for a long time while serving as Deputy Defense Minister.
Last activities[]
When Cohen returned, he was received at a "welcome back" party by George Seif, Colonel Hatum, and other high-ranking officials. Seif told him that several Syrian officers were arrested on suspicion of espionage after they were caught meeting with CIA operative Walter Snowden at the American embassy, and Cohen was surprised when the power in the neighborhood went off; Seif explained to him that Damascus was not the same since he left, as Suidani and several Soviet advisors travelled through the neighborhoods in a van to search for any electronical signals. The Russians picked up an illegal signal after Cohen warned the Mossad about the crackdown and discovered that a strike on Shallal was imminent. However, Cohen ended the conversation before the van could find him.
Cohen having dinner with the President
Cohen and Saliha later met with President al-Hafiz and his wife Zeinab al-Hafiz for dinner, where al-Hafiz told Cohen that he had begun to fund the military wing of Yasser Arafat's PLO, the Fatah, in preparation for them to move to Syria from Jordan. That same dinner, the crowd was interrupted by the shaking of the ground as Israeli fighter jets flew overhead, and they witnessed the bombing of Shallal in the distance. Cohen then sent telegrams to Mossad about the destruction of Shallal, Damascus being on high alert, and Arafat's plans, and the Soviets used their tracking equipment to tracl down Cohen to his apartment.
Arrest and execution[]
Cohen before being hanged
On the morning of 24 January 1965, Suidani and a large contingent of Syrian troops arrived at Cohen's apartment and arrested him after finding him hiding under his bed. Cohen was then arrested and subjected to torture, while a devastated and infuriated al-Hafiz had all of the people involved, including al-Ard and Ma'azi, arrested and tortured. On 18 May 1965, al-Hafiz ordered that Cohen be executed at Marjeh Square. He was hanged in front of the President, his wife, several high-ranking officials, and the public, and his body was displayed for 6 hours.
Legacy[]
Two years after Cohen's death, in the Six-Day War, the eucalyptus trees Cohen planted above the Syrian bunkers on the Golan Heights were used as targeting markers by the Israeli military, and the Golan Heights fell in two days. Cohen's body was never returned to Israel, with the Syrian government refusing to return his remains to his family for over 50 years; his wife never remarried, and she continued to spearhead the campaign to return his body to Israel.