The Story of Eli Cohen
Eli Cohen was an Egyptian born Jew. He lived near Cairo during peaceful times in the early 1950’s. Towards the end of the 50’s, the Egyptian Government turned on their Jewish citizens. Some were able to flee to Israel but most were imprisoned. Eli Cohen was one of the Heads of the Underground Movement freeing Jewish prisoners until he himself was imprisoned.
He escaped from Egypt in 1961 and made way to Bat Yam, Israel. When Eli started his new life in Israel he went to the Israeli Intelligence community, Mossad, and asked to be taken in, only to be refused. (In those days Mossad strictly recruited their agents).
It took three years and finally the Mossad recruited Cohen for duty and he accepted. This was 1964 and there was much turbulence between Israel and most Countries in the region (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt).
The Mossad assessed Eli and found that his knowledge of the Arabic language (Aramaic) was excellent. They determined that he could not go back to Egypt and work in any covert missions there, as he was a known quantity. They decided that his accent was well suited to the Syrian Dialect of Arabic.
The Bait Shin placed Cohen in Western Europe for training, and to harness his language skills. He was then sent to Argentina, to a large Syrian Community and given instructions to make his name as a lost brother.
Eli Cohen made many friends in the Syrian Community in Argentina. Amongst them were the 1st cousin of the Minister of Defense, and the son of the Minister of Interior.
By 1965, Eli Cohen was sent back to Western Europe to be relocated, this time to Damascus, Syria.
During this time the Israeli Defense Minister, Yizchak Rabin, was in high alert as there were constant problems with their neighboring Countries.
Eli Cohen was considered Israeli’s highest ranking covert operation in Syria.
Cohen would have regular weekly parties with High Ranking officials and would serve his guests’ fine wine. He learned much about Syria’s military affairs, which he would transmit back to the Bait Shin nightly. Then, one day in early 1966, Cohen was invited to a military post in the Golan Heights (a part of Syria at that time).
The Minister of Syria’s Defense told him that Syria was about ready to go to war with Israel. Eli explained to the Syrian Intelligence Community this: Should troops be brought in to fight a war with Israel why not plant trees there to shade the troops. He radioed back to Jerusalem that night, of the news that trees would soon be in the Golan Heights (the highest point overlooking Israel), and that it would be followed by Syrian’s Army moving in preparing for an attack on Israel.
When Rabin saw that trees were being planted in the Golan, he paid close attention to Syria’s
military movement. In 1967, Syrian soldiers started arriving to the Golan and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Air Force bombed the Golan to threads and populated that region.
When Egypt realized that the Syrian Army was defeated and sent back to Damascus, they panicked. They sent all their aircraft (fighters) towards Israel. The Bait Shin sent only 1/3rd of their fighters. As the Egyptian fighters went back to refuel, the Israeli fighters that had remained on the ground went up and bombed the sitting ducks.
With the two largest Arab Forces defeated, the Israeli Military took only six days in defeating all six aforementioned Countries.
Eli Cohen was an Egyptian born Jew. He lived near Cairo during peaceful times in the early 1950’s. Towards the end of the 50’s, the Egyptian Government turned on their Jewish citizens. Some were able to flee to Israel but most were imprisoned. Eli Cohen was one of the Heads of the Underground Movement freeing Jewish prisoners until he himself was imprisoned.
He escaped from Egypt in 1961 and made way to Bat Yam, Israel. When Eli started his new life in Israel he went to the Israeli Intelligence community, Mossad, and asked to be taken in, only to be refused. (In those days Mossad strictly recruited their agents).
It took three years and finally the Mossad recruited Cohen for duty and he accepted. This was 1964 and there was much turbulence between Israel and most Countries in the region (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, and Egypt).
The Mossad assessed Eli and found that his knowledge of the Arabic language (Aramaic) was excellent. They determined that he could not go back to Egypt and work in any covert missions there, as he was a known quantity. They decided that his accent was well suited to the Syrian Dialect of Arabic.
The Bait Shin placed Cohen in Western Europe for training, and to harness his language skills. He was then sent to Argentina, to a large Syrian Community and given instructions to make his name as a lost brother.
Eli Cohen made many friends in the Syrian Community in Argentina. Amongst them were the 1st cousin of the Minister of Defense, and the son of the Minister of Interior.
By 1965, Eli Cohen was sent back to Western Europe to be relocated, this time to Damascus, Syria.
During this time the Israeli Defense Minister, Yizchak Rabin, was in high alert as there were constant problems with their neighboring Countries.
Eli Cohen was considered Israeli’s highest ranking covert operation in Syria.
Cohen would have regular weekly parties with High Ranking officials and would serve his guests’ fine wine. He learned much about Syria’s military affairs, which he would transmit back to the Bait Shin nightly. Then, one day in early 1966, Cohen was invited to a military post in the Golan Heights (a part of Syria at that time).
The Minister of Syria’s Defense told him that Syria was about ready to go to war with Israel. Eli explained to the Syrian Intelligence Community this: Should troops be brought in to fight a war with Israel why not plant trees there to shade the troops. He radioed back to Jerusalem that night, of the news that trees would soon be in the Golan Heights (the highest point overlooking Israel), and that it would be followed by Syrian’s Army moving in preparing for an attack on Israel.
When Rabin saw that trees were being planted in the Golan, he paid close attention to Syria’s
military movement. In 1967, Syrian soldiers started arriving to the Golan and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Air Force bombed the Golan to threads and populated that region.
When Egypt realized that the Syrian Army was defeated and sent back to Damascus, they panicked. They sent all their aircraft (fighters) towards Israel. The Bait Shin sent only 1/3rd of their fighters. As the Egyptian fighters went back to refuel, the Israeli fighters that had remained on the ground went up and bombed the sitting ducks.
With the two largest Arab Forces defeated, the Israeli Military took only six days in defeating all six aforementioned Countries.
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