May 18, 1965: Eli Cohen, The Mossad’s Master Spy, was executed

On May 18, 1965, the Israeli Eli Cohen, recognized as one of the most successful spies of modern times, was executed by Syria on espionage charges.

Eli Cohen was born on December 26, 1924 in the Egyptian town of Alexandria, he made aliyah (the Jewish emigration to Israel) in 57. Three years later he was recruited by the Israeli Intelligence and after an intense instruction that included the improvement of the Arabic, the study of the Koran, discreetly photographing sensitive places and the use of communications, assumed the role of the Syrian businessman who returns to a house after a few years in Argentina.

To establish his alibi, Cohen went to Argentina in 1961 and quickly became acquainted with the highest of the Buenos Aires Arab aristocracy. Thanks to the help of the editor of Mundo Arabe magazine, he accessed the Syrian embassy in Argentina, where he met General Amin el Afezz, Syrian military attache.

In December 1961 he left for Syria via Zurich. Over the next few years, using the nickname Kamel Amin Tsa’abet (commonly pronounced as Sabet or Thabet), Cohen successfully gained the trust of various Syrian military and government officials.

While Cohen was not James Bond, his swift intelligence, retained mind, language ability, and other special attributes allowed him to enter Syria, and even his most resonant operation was a trip to the Syrian fortifications of the Golan Heights.

In 1964 its control was transferred to Mossad as part of the reorganization carried out in the Israeli intelligence systems. But in January 1965 he was caught red-handed by Soviet experts sending radio messages and for this fact he was convicted of espionage.

Despite international efforts to get Syria to change the death sentence, even Pope Paul VI asked for his life, Cohen was hanged at dawn on May 18, 1965 in Marja Square in Damascus.