Before 007...

Eli Cohen - the man who gave Mossad the reputation as the best intelligence service in the world and helped Israel win the Six Day's War.

By: Victoria Reyz

The most famous spy in the world is a fiction; and that is as it should be. Espionage is not a business that usually leads to fame. Eli Cohen is an exception to the rule. In 1965, this Egyptian-born Israeli spy was third in line to the Syrian presidency. His story is as tragic as it is heroic.

Eli Cohen was a secretive man; he had to be. In 1938, at 17, he was already working with the Zionist Underground in Alexandria. He was rejected from the Egyptian military service on the grounds of questionable loyalty. In 1948, after the declaration of the establishment of the state of Israel, the situation became significantly more dangerous for Jews living in Arab countries. Cohen was now involved with the Haganah (a predecessor to the IDF). So perilous was his position in Egypt, that when his brother asked for help with documents to move the family to Israel, Eli feigned ignorance.

By 1956, Eli was thrown out of Egypt. He was suspected of Zionist activities. Indeed, it was solely the lack of evidence that saved him from being sentenced to hang in 1953, when Egyptian authorities discovered a Jewish spy ring (of which Eli was a member) in their midst.

He made aliyah, got work as a private citizen and married Nadia Magled in 1959. Soon, he was being courted by Israeli intelligence. After the mysterious loss of his civilian job, he joined the IDF and then the Mossad. He was soon dispatched to Argentina where he established himself as Kamel Amin Sa'bet, a rich Syrian émigré. His parents' Syrian roots gave him just the right sort of knowledge to pull off his charade. He was sucessful and by 1961, with the support of the Argentinean Syrian community, he traveled to Damascus and settled in as an integral member of the Ba'ath Party (the ruling political party of Syria at the time).

He was a very good spy. He derailed a plan by Syria to cut off Israel's water supply and was thereby directly responsible for saving several Israeli settlements from overt destruction. He toured and photographed the Golan Heights stronghold. In fact, it is said that on one particular tour of the Golan, he encouraged a Syrian army officer to plant eucalytus trees along the line of fortifications to deceive the Israelis into thinking the area to be unfortified and to offer shade and beauty for soldiers. Serving as a marker, the trees planted at Eli's suggestion gave Israel the exact location of Syrian fortifications. During the Six Day War of 1967, Israel took two days to conquer the Golan Heights based on Eli Cohen's intellegence.

His 1965 trip to Syria was to be his last (he had promised his wife). At this point, Syrian officials knew there was a top level leak somewhere in theirs government. Using Soviet tracking equipment, Eli was caught sending an illegal transmission. With his cover blown, he was imprisoned, tortured and interrogated. He was denied any defense at a military tribunal and was sentenced to hang despite an international campaign spearheaded by then Israeli Foreign Minister Golda Meir to spare him.


On May 18, 1965, Eli Cohen was hanged in front of a crowd of 10,000 jeering onlookers. His execution was televised; his family watched him die. Forty five years later, his remains are still in Syria, never having received a proper Jewish burial. To this day, his family calls for his return.


Eli Cohen was a man who fought for Israel and the Jewish nation. He is remembered as one of the great heroes of Israel.