Israel-Syria News: After the coup in Syria, Israel is strengthening its hold in the Middle East. A spy of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad was publicly hanged in Syria in 1965. Since then Israel is trying to bring back his body. The name of that famous Israeli spy was Eli Cohen, who gathered important intelligence for Israel’s success in the Six Day War of 1967.
Joined Israeli intelligence agency Mossad
Cohen was born in 1924 into an Egyptian Jewish family. After the establishment of Israel in 1948, Cohen’s family immigrated here. Cohen himself settled there in 1957. In the year 1957, he joined the Israeli Defense Force and here he was in Military Intelligence. After this, from 1960 he started working for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Cohen had a strong command over Spanish, French and Arabic languages. To complete his mission, he reached the capital Damascus in 1962 posing as Syrian businessman Kamel Amil Thamet. Here he increased his contacts with political and military figures and gradually started partying together and gathering intelligence. It was because of Eli Cohen’s secret information that Israel came to know about the Syrian presence in the Golan Heights.
hanged in public
Cohen’s espionage activities ended suddenly in 1965. Syrian intelligence agencies had identified his secret radio transmissions sent to Israel with the help of the Soviet Union. On January 4, 1965, Syrian authorities raided his home and arrested him. He was tried in Syria and found guilty of espionage. Despite international appeals for clemency, Cohen was publicly hanged on 18 May 1965.
New opportunities for talks after the coup in Syria
The whereabouts of Cohen’s body has been a matter of controversy since his execution. Israel repeatedly demanded his body, but Syria continued to reject his request. Syria had rejected many proposals for exchange of prisoners. According to the report of Times of Israel, efforts have now been intensified to locate the grave of Israeli spy Eli Cohen. In the year 2018, Mossad had received Cohen’s watch from Syria.
After the overthrow of the Assad government in Syria, new opportunities for dialogue have arisen between the two countries. Israeli officials, including Mossad director David Barnia, are involved in direct talks with former members of the Assad government.
Also read: ‘This is not the girl we know’, Hamas releases video of hostage Liri Albagh, family says
