Returning to Nadia is Cohens ultimate goal. 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. As a young adult, he worked within Egypt to secretly assist other Egyptian Jews in emigrating to Israel. A number were only released 14 years later, after the 1967 War. In January 1947, he was enlisted in the Egyptian army as an alternative to paying the mandatory sum that all young Jews had to pay. One day Cohen was sitting in Saifs office reading a classified document while the Syrian was on the phone. After several days, Eli got a new identity as. In January 1965, Syrian security officers broke into Elis apartment while he was in the middle of his escape to Israel. Learn more. For as little as $6/month, you will: Were really pleased that youve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month. Abdel Latif Hassan immediately wrote four letters one to his brother-in-law, two to friends in Beirut, and fourth to his son in Damascus. The alleged son says the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) contacted him two years ago believing he has clues to the secret location, which his father had apparently taken to the grave. I give you my blessing. Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on December 26, 1924. Eli was arrested but soon released due to a lack of evidence. Again, I. tabet sends it to Argentina, where his friend dispatches them to Israel with a diplomatic pouch. [18], Cohen made repeated visits to the southern frontier zone, providing photographs and sketches of Syrian positions. Eli Cohen provided an incredible amount of intelligence data to the Israeli Army over a period of three years. your father and uncle opened a textile store, but it went bankrupt your father died in 1956 and six months later your mother died too. Its unfamiliar to me, this form of expression in a global television series. Periodically Eli would return to Israel to speak with his Israeli handlers and visit his wife and small children. Last year, Israel was able to retrieve Cohens wristwatch from Syria and return it to his family. Nadia, however, never remarried. I send you my last kisses to you and to the children: Sophie, Irit, and Shaoul, and to the rest of my family, especially my mother. - From Eli Cohen's last letter to his wife Nadia and his children, written an hour before his execution in Damascus. Eli, who would feign intoxication, remained sober and listened carefully., In addition to providing loans to government officials and acting as an avid host, he was asked for advice by government officials, who were often intoxicated by the alcohol he freely provided. Intelligence created a completely new identity for him. [6] Cohen spoke five languages fluently. He returned home to his family only a few times during his mission. thus Israel needed an agent in Damascus (Sami Micheal, Nadia Cohen's brother was recruited. in Israel, he found the job of translating weekly and monthly magazines for a man after a few months he was fired. Eliyahu (Eli) Cohen, an Egyptian Jew, was born in Alexandria in 1924. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. Nadia was told that Eli was working for the ministry of defense and would be completely safe. Given their history of a paper trail, its fitting but heartbreaking to learn that their final exchange also took place over written correspondence. His first assignment was to infiltrate the Jewish community of Alexandria. [2], A 2018 article published in Newsweek by Ronen Bergman excerpted from Bergman's book Rise and Kill First, says that Eli Cohen located Alois Brunner, a Nazi scientist suspected of living in Syria, and relayed the information to an Israel intelligence unit that later sent letter bombs to Brunner. But his knowledge of. Cohen expressed fear of discovery to the Mossad on his last secret visit to Israel in November 1964, and he stated that he wished to terminate his assignment in Syria. In March 1963, General Hafez, Eli's friend was appointed minister of defense in salah Al-Birat's cabinet. In 1963, during a business trip to Germany, he met Weltrude Scheffeldt, a divorcee, then 22 and with a small child, and married her. But he spent most of his time in Tel Aviv perfecting his cover and being briefed on Amans requirements of him in Syria, as well as last-minute intelligence data needed for his mission. His success in effectively penetrating the Syrian social and political/diplomatic/military strata already wildly exceeded Amans expectations of him, Cohen arrived in Damascus in February 1962, posing as a businessman from Argentina who had returned to his native land. Syria has not even disclosed the location of Eli's grave. Despite being away from home for months at a time, he fathered three children, Sophie, Irit and Shai. They married in 1959, a month after meeting, and had three children together. He says the spies wanted him to try and talk to his father's close friends or provide insight. Cohen's training was long and exhausting. Cohen was convicted of espionage. [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. Israeli intelligence was particularly excited about Cohen . In an interview with Newshub, Al-Hafidh now says he is willing to reveal the information without the financial reward, as long as the Cohen's relatives finally have their peace. One of them was Colonel Amin al-Hafaz, a supporter of the secular-leftist Baath party. Eli Cohen's son, Shaul, was only 2 weeks old when he last saw his father. According to Scheffeldt, Cohen and al-Gamal were arrested together in 1954 and released shortly after. Eli studied at a local Jewish community school and then attended the 'University of Alexandria' to study electrical engineering. They further said that the use of the term "partner" is generic and is applied to all those agencies with which we have contact. Last Friday marked the 53rd anniversary of the execution of Eli Cohen, the Egyptian-born Israeli spy who burrowed his way so deep into the Syrian state apparatus he nearly came to head it. 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. The Spy, which was released Friday, tells the story of Cohen, who spied for Israel in Syria during the 1960s, providing valuable intelligence that was said to have greatly assisted the Israeli military in the 1967 Six Day War. children: Irit Cohen, Shai Cohen, Sophie Cohen, place of death: Al Marjeh Square, Damascus, Syria, See the events in life of Eli Cohen in Chronological Order, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubQ6b-9OewI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ9cUmvkgmg. He was stunned by the precision of the Israeli bombing during the 1964 attack. Eli has been honored as an Israeli national hero, and many streets and neighborhoods have been named after him. Sign in to stop seeing this, Sara Netanyahu accosted by protesters at Tel Aviv hair salon, extricated by police, Brides joy turns to sorrow after Elan Ganeles killed driving to her wedding, Hiker discovers 2,500-year-old ancient receipt from reign of Purim kings father, Netanyahu compares Tel Aviv protesters to settlers who set fire to Huwara. The daughter of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen said Sunday it hurt to watch the new Netflix series about her fathers life and execution in Syria, lamenting some historical inaccuracies in the adaptation but praising Sacha Baron Cohens performance. 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. At the beginning of the 1956 War, when Israel occupied the Sinai, Eli Cohen was detained by the Egyptian authorities, and was expelled from Egypt along with the remainder of Alexandrian Jews at the end of the war. But what happened next apparently deviates from the way it appears in the show. "It was all for good intentions. He had been repeatedly interrogated and tortured. At the same time, Israeli officials devised escape schemes and appealed to international organizations. The drunk guests would often end up blabbing about their work to Cohen, who was sober but would pretend to be intoxicated. Please use the following structure: example@domain.com, Send me The Times of Israel Daily Edition. They warned me not to discuss the issue with Eli anymore and to share his secret with no one.". In the 1987 TV movie 'The Impossible Spy,' Michal Bat-Adam portrayed Nadia, while in the 2019 'Netflix' series 'The Spy,' Hadar Ratzon-Rotem played her, with Sacha Baron Cohen as Eli. On May 15, 1965, Eli wrote a final letter to Nadia, requesting her not to mourn his death and stating that she should hold her head high, as her husband had done nothing wrong. He would also lend money to government officials, and many came to him for advice. On 29 December 2022, Cohen was sworn in as Foreign Minister alongside a new government, and will rotate the position with Israel Katz. [9], Syria refused to return Cohen's body to his family in Israel, and his wife Nadia sent a letter to Amin al-Hafiz in November 1965 asking his forgiveness for Cohen's actions and requesting his remains. one evening he met one gentleman, Abdel Latif Hassan, editor in chief of Arab world magazine publish in Argentina. In 1967, the Israelis were able to conquer the Golan Heights in two days in part due to the intelligence he provided. But the series did not give al-Gamal enough credit, she said, and this led her to reveal his memoirs, which he wrote in secret and deposited with a lawyer for safekeeping. In Episode 5, Cohen's playboy-esque Thaabet hosts a sex party at his apartment to distract key government and military officials while the Ba'ath Party's military committee seizes power in Damascus. As the Syrian Army officer explained to Eli the fortifications the Syrian Army had built, Eli suggested that the Syrians plant trees there to deceive the Israelis into thinking it was unfortified, as well as to provide shade and beauty for the soldiers stationed there. Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel, 2023 The Times of Israel , All Rights Reserved, Sophie Ben-Dor (Screen capture: Channel 12 News), This undated photo shows Israeli spy Eli Cohen in Syria wearing a wristwatch recovered by the Mossad in 2018. Nadia still holds a grudge against the 'Mossad' handlers who had sent Eli to Syria, an action that had taken him away from her, forever. 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. They successfully detected radio transmissions and were able to triangulate the transmitter. If I wanted something, I called, they put me through to him immediately. But in 1965, he was unmasked. "It works with a range of international intelligence agencies,'' the NZSIS said in response. He set up a travel agency in Tel Aviv and developed ties with the upper echelons of Israeli society, including politicians. The Syrians and their Russian advisers were alarmed by the intelligence that was seeping out of the country. become close friends. In the fifties, Israel had launched a project of huge pipeline and canals that would carry a part of the jorden river water to the arid Negev region. He also requested her to remarry so that their children would have a father and she would have a partner. Eli was friends with two highly placed Army officers, Colonels Hatoum and Dali, who were fully informed about the scheme. Registering also lets you comment on articles and helps us improve your experience. Cohen (Sacha Baron Cohen) was the kind of guy to leave his wife spontaneous love letters throughout the house. Eli Cohen, Israels most famous spy, also happened to be a hopeless romantic. when you were three, your family left Lebanon and moved to Egypt Alexandria. For 19 years, Jewish settlements in the north were under constant threat of Syrian guns. The agent replied: "Will do, thanks K". Show creator Gideon Raff's limited series has brought renewed attention to the life and work of Eli Cohen. Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and moved to Israel in 1957.

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