Revealed: The Plan to Expand the Israeli Knesset by More Than Double, Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Nadia Cohen attempted to appeal for clemency at the Syrian Embassy in Paris but was turned away. His work bored him and he attempted to join the Mossad, but he was offended when the Mossad rejected him, and he resigned from military counter-intelligence. [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. He was convicted in a trial without a defense and sentenced to death. A memorial stone has been erected in the 'Garden of the Missing Soldiers' in Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, to commemorate him. I am begging you my dear Nadia not to spend your time in weeping about some thing already passed. Widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen: Netflix drama 'raises my blood pressure' Eli himself was not above the spicier part of a spys life either. We may recall the Egyptian-Jewish spies from the Operation Susannah fiasco. Periodically Eli would return to Israel to speak with his Israeli handlers and visit his wife and small children. But his knowledge of the Arab language and Arab culture, as well as prior work in espionage in Egypt, made him a good candidate for the Mossad. One day Cohen was sitting in Saifs office reading a classified document while the Syrian was on the phone. Hes a trusted friend.. Cohen would then send intelligence back to Israel using a hidden radio transmitter. [9], Cohen continued his social life as he had in Argentina, spending time in cafes listening to political gossip. Israel desperately tried to have his sentence commuted, and despite requests from world leaders and Pope Paul VI for clemency, Cohen was hanged publicly in May of that year. A year later your sister dies.in 1947 all of you arrived in Argentina. he goes abroad for business and meets Nadia and Sophie in Bat Yam. The Spy alternates between Cohens risky schemes with Nadias far more ordinary life. Thanks". On 29 December 2022, Cohen was sworn in as Foreign Minister alongside a new government, and will rotate the position with Israel Katz. Since 1992, the Golan has been up for discussion in the peace talks, but it strikes a very emotional chord among Israelis due to its historic and strategic significance, in addition to its natural beauty. As we saw, the Syrians continually harassed Israels northern settlements from 1948-67. After his execution, a white parchment filled with anti-Zionist writing was put on his body, and he was left hanging for six hours. While undercover in Argentina in The Spy, Cohen struggles to resist drafting her notes, even if it puts him in danger. Egypt has the strongest of the Arab countries and sworn enamy if Israel with the decision to evacuate Egypt, modern bases, airfield, and huge stores of equipment and war material would fall into the Egyptian army. He was also allowed to write a final letter to his wife. In February 2007, the Turkish government offered to act as a mediator for their return. Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. Speaking to Cohen's brother, and to Israeli and Syrian intelligence experts, Sputnik has pieced together a new look at the superspy's incredible life story. "It was all for good intentions. In real life, the closeness between Hafiz and Cohen has been disputed by the former president of Syria, who claimed in a 2001 interview with Al Jazeera that they couldn't have met in Buenos Aires because Hafiz was in Moscow until 1962, by which time Cohen had gone undercover as Thaabet in Damascus. "I am the son of the only person on this planet who knows where the remains are buried," he told Newshub in an interview. Another tutor trained him to speak Arabic. In 1960, Cohen was recruited to be part of a dangerous mission to Syria. Where Is Nadia Cohen Now? He was quickly able to infiltrate the highest levels of Syrian society. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/eli-cohen-16869.php. [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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. On the day of his execution, his last wish to see a rabbi was respected by the prison authorities, and Nissim Indibo, the elderly Chief Rabbi of Syria, accompanied him in the truck. Eli's wife Nadia, played by Hadar Ratzon Rotem, has to deal with raising two children without her husband, who disappears for up to a year at a time without being allowed to tell her what he's actually doing or even where he is. The Baath party was rising to power and Eli Cohen wanted to be there when it took power. The actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has a . He was sent to Argentina, where he took on the guise of a businessman, scion of a Syrian family. Eli kept transmitting reports of a military character, top military orders, reports on new weapons to Israel. Israeli spy's widow 'hurt' by Netflix biopic, but welcomes publicity But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community. They were caught spying for Israel in 1953 and some of them were hanged. Learn more. Eli Cohen's son, Shaul, was only 2 weeks old when he last saw his father. Show creator Gideon Raff's limited series has brought renewed attention to the life and work of Eli Cohen. The Syrian officer readily agreed and Eli immediately passed the information onto Israel. He did not object, in fact, to the idea of a ladies man reputation. In 1957, Eli joined the Israel Defense Forces as a counterintelligence analyst and later applied for the Israeli intelligence agency 'Mossad,' which rejected him. The Syrian project to divert water from the headwaters of the Jordan away from Israel was mentioned already in the above introduction. He became far less careful in his transmissions to Israel, sometimes calling once or even twice a day and almost always at the same time, at 8:30 in the morning. 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. But in 1965, he was unmasked. On May 18, 1965, Eli was publicly hanged at the Marjeh Square in Damascus, Syria. [4] His father had moved there from Aleppo in 1914. Every morning, Eli would leave home and head for the Aman training center. On April 15, 2019, a few Israeli news agencies published unconfirmed reports of Eli's remains being recovered in Syria and stated that the remains were with a Russian delegation. 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. The information he had been providing them for years was too good to forego. Cohen accepted the calling. This material may not be republished without the permission of the copyright owner. Al-Gamal rushed to inform his superiors that Thabet was none other than Eli Cohen, the Alexandrian Jew. Maurice Cohen told his brother he had a new phone line installed in his house and "gave the number of his apartment in Damascus, which I had received in a message just before he'd come home.". But changes were taking place in the Syrian Government that alarmed Eli. Eli was arrested but soon released due to a lack of evidence. In 1965, the Syrian secret service was on high alert. One of the more famous aspects of his spying regarded a trip he took to the Golan Heights. One of them was Colonel Amin al-Hafaz, a supporter of the secular-leftist Baath party. In 1961, Eli was sent to Buenos Aires in the guise of a Syrian textile businessman. It was approved by, The head of the presidency council on 17/5/1965, Top 10 Weakest Militaries in the World | The Bahamas, Central African Republic, The Gambia,Barbados, Somalia, Luxembourg military power, MiG-29 vs. Su-27: The Soviet Union's Two Top Fighters Went Head to Head in an East African Air War, Ravindra Kaushik RAW Agent ( Black Tiger) Wife, son, Death reason, | Facts about Ravindra Kaushik | Ravindra Kaushik Movie, Israel's Iron Dome Vs S-400 Russian Comparison, Price, Success Rate | Iron Dome vs S400 which is better, Top amazing facts about RAW and Agent : History, Foundation, Joining , Department of RAW, Eli Cohen Wife, Children | Israeli Spy biography | Last Letter to his wife and Children | Eli Cohen death writing translation | george seif syria. "You know, when I was growing up, I heard a tremendous amount about your husband. I beg you my dear Nadia do not spend your life weeping for what has passed. Its unfamiliar to me, this form of expression in a global television series. On 18 May 1965, Eli cohen was woken by the jailer and fastened the noose, and hang up, the huge poster was fastened on his chest where his sentence was written in Arabic.Even today Syria refuses to return his body for burial in Israel. Today, one can see the former Syrian bunkers that remain on the Golan Heights from 1967 (as well as the tanks from 1973). Elis connections enabled him to be taken to the Golan Heights a major strategic asset for Syria from 1948-67. 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. "I beg you my dear Nadia do not spend your life weeping for what has past," his final letter read. I think as long as Bashar Assad is in power I dont see the word progress,' she said, referring to Syrias dictator. "There was great excitement because it is essentially the only item of dad that came back, we have nothing. He is best known for his espionage work in 196165 in Syria, where he developed close relationships with the Syrian political and military hierarchy.[1][2][3]. In 1967, the Israelis were able to conquer the Golan Heights in two days in part due to the intelligence he provided. It went wrong, really wrong," he said. Scheffeldt, 63, is the widow of Rifa'at al-Gamal, an Egyptian spy who reportedly operated in Israel for a number of years. I understand and respect [it], she said in a separate interview earlier Sunday with the network. On August 31, 1959, he married a beautiful Iraqi-born Jew, Nadia Majald. 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. They successfully detected radio transmissions and were able to triangulate the transmitter. Maurice isn't sure what this means. 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. later he handed with Syrian passport in name of kamal Amin tabet, he advised to open a bank account in that name and start visiting Arab restaurants, the cinema where Arab movies are shown, and political club. At times before the civil war, the Syrians used Israels northern border with Lebanon to harass Israel the way they used to from the Golan Heights. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Israeli spy who was captured and executed in Syria, that enabled them to destroy the equipment prepared for the task, "Israel's Secret Operation to Recover the Watch of a Legendary Spy", "Rumors fly that body of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen was found", "Eli Cohen, notre agent "top secret" Damas", "Mossad's master of deception: the astounding true story of Israeli super-spy Eli Cohen", Widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen: Netflix drama 'raises my blood pressure', "Unending agony for legendary spy Eli Cohen and his widow", "Israel's secret war against Hitler's scientists", "The History of Elie Cohen: An Egyptian Jew who became Israel's greatest spy", "Will Israel's superspy finally rest in peace? He was hanged on May 18, 1965. He was promised support in any venture he might wish to undertake, and the generous sums of cash which he appeared to possess appealed to the unscrupulous who thought he could provide grease to their financial ambitions, as well as patriotic Syrians who hoped for an infusion of foreign capital into the Syrian state. In January 1965, Syrian security services broke into Eli's apartment, where he was caught while he was escaping to Israel. Eli Cohen | My Jewish Learning in Israel, he found the job of translating weekly and monthly magazines for a man after a few months he was fired. In exchange for his freedom, he agreed to work for Egypt's intelligence service. 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. In November 1965, Eli's wife wrote to Syrian leader Hafez al-Assad, requesting him to send Elis remains back to Israel. His family is now settled in Bat Yam. [12], He was then given a false identity as a Syrian businessman who was returning to the country after living in Argentina. Unfortunately, Nadia and her family are still waiting to get Elis body and have not made peace with it. Eliyahu (Eli) Cohen, an Egyptian Jew, was born in Alexandria in 1924. In a display of generosity, the tabet contributed some money to build a public kitchen for the poor of Damascus. His widow mentioned that the watch was up for sale months earlier, and Mossad managed to capture it. She smiles. The True Story Behind The Spy on Netflix | Time They had three children, Sophie, Irit, and Shai. Nadia and 'Mossad' were on bad terms until Meir Dagan was made the agencys chief. Al-Hafidh wanted a million dollars for his services, texting: "1M for the minimum for kick start. Their youngest child, Shai, was only 21 days old then. She understood from him that he would be working for the Ministry of Defense, but she didnt know where or in what capacity. 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. He had been repeatedly interrogated and tortured. 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. 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. They had a son, Daniel, and after the Six Day War they celebrated his bar mitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. With senior staff officers acting as guides, Eli Cohen was provided an in-depth intelligence briefing of monumental proportions. They even photographed Eli on the Golan Heights, looking over into Israel, alongside the most high-ranking Syrian officers. He worked as an accountant and translator. In 1963, during a business trip to Germany, he met Weltrude Scheffeldt, a divorcee, then 22 and with a small child, and married her. According to Scheffeldt, Cohen and al-Gamal were arrested together in 1954 and released shortly after. Eventually, they had three children: Sophie Ben-Dor, Irit Peleg, and Shai Cohen. Syria brought hydraulic engineers and diversion equipment to actualize the scheme. How is it that you dare allow a stranger to read a classified document? he angrily asked Saif. the plan was doomed from staring, one of the bombs exploded in the pocket of Philip Natanson and was arrested by police and other members were caught in the following days. He also requested her to remarry so that their children would have a father and she would have a partner. Nadia, understandably, has remained fixated on her loss. Nine months later, in late 1961, Eli came back to Israel for a visit with his wife Nadia. When the Golan was captured in 1967, at almost the end of the Six-Day War, settlers in the north could finally feel relieved. [7][9], Israel staged an international campaign for clemency, hoping to persuade the Syrians not to execute him. Others have attributed the carelessness to an almost suicidal tendency perhaps, it was later surmised, he had been in the undercover world too long, but knew he couldnt get out of it. [22], It is claimed that the intelligence that Cohen gathered before his arrest was an important factor in Israel's success in the Six-Day War,[23] although some intelligence experts have argued that the information he provided about the Golan Heights fortifications was also readily available from ground and aerial reconnaissance. But an interview published in the Cairo Times yesterday with the German-born Weltrude Scheffeldt-Biton suggests that Egyptian intelligence played the most important role in unmasking Cohen. Over the years, her relationship with the Mossad and that of her children, Sophie Ben-Dor, Irit Peleg and Shai Cohen, unraveled. Do you rely on The Times of Israel for accurate and insightful news on Israel and the Jewish world? World leaders, wealthy individuals, the Israeli government, the pope, and others all intervened on his behalf. The Kinneret supplies Israel with most of its water needs. Meanwhile, every few days he transmitted important information to his Israeli handlers via a radio transmitter he had hidden in his room. Eli was, however, persuaded continuously by Israeli intelligence agencies to return to Syria. He carefully cultivated contacts with the Baath leadership, which included the Syrian military attach in Argentina, General Amin al-Hafaz. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Antoni Porowski Talks New Cookbook, Recipes and Tradition in Cooking, Netflix's 'The Spy': Eli Cohen's Remains Still a Mystery, How to Watch True Crime Series 'Unbelievable' on Netflix. ", "Former Assad aide: Eli Cohen's burial site unknown],mm", "New footage emerges of Eli Cohen on the gallows", "Mossad Brings Home Watch of Israeli Spy Executed in Syria; Netanyahu Hails 'Brave' Op", "Watch of famed Israeli spy Eli Cohen recovered by Mossad", "The saga of Eli Cohen, Israel's greatest spy", "Will Assad's Ouster Free Body of Israel Spy? He would entertain high-ranking politicians and military officials at extravagant parties where there would be many women and lots of booze. Cohen wrote in his final letter on 15 May 1965:[7]. Eli Cohen, the spy who was larger than life - The Jerusalem Post Eli Cohen was first sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to establish his cover as a Syrian emigre. If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. The Syrians have consistently refused to do so. Sacha Baron Cohen-led limited series "The Spy" which comes out today on Netflix tells the true story of how famed Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen went undercover in 1960s Syria. But what happened next apparently deviates from the way it appears in the show. [9] The governments of Belgium, Canada, and France tried to persuade the Syrian government to commute the death sentence,[25] but the Syrians refused. Recalling Elis final days, Nadia states he was in Bat Yam, with her and the three babies. But his knowledge of. Fortunately, several were easy to spot, for they . Since Eli did not have a steady job back then, even though he worked as an accountant, he had to rely more on Nadia to help support the family and their marriage. Scheffeldt said that her husband never revealed his true identity, and she learned of it only after a television series aired in Egypt that described him as a national hero.