And most handsome - note even the enemy said he had "noble bearing" so
pedigree does account for something.
But he got caught by his old "nemisis"....but with a name like Eli
wonder if that guy went to Yale or was he a descendent of Phineas - the
Sons of Eli?
Now imagine Ariel Scheinman aka Sharon whom the Palestinians call "the
Fat Slob" - did he ever present such a pictures as Eli? Some spies I
have known have been handsome - boy they sure know how to find one's
weakness. Anway - this Eli hate to say it, but this guy was Jewish and
passed himself off as an Arab Muslim.
Operation Susannah? Well this Lavon Affair, Egytian Jews posing as
Egyptian Muslims like an regular Abdul abulbul Amir...speaks many
languages, the ladies loved him and played a guitar to boot?
Man some of those FBI guys could also dance too.
So here is story about Eli Cohen and I swear this guy could have been
Irish he is better looking than Ian Fleming.
OSaba (and Oh Boy even Sybil Leek melted when Ian went after her - for
who has more fun than spies, chasing spies.....off duty, of course)
Eli Cohen
(1924-1965)
By Doron Geller
>From the creation of Israel through the present day, Syria has been one,
if not the most, implacable of Israel's enemies. From 1948 until 1967,
Syria was in more of a position to express her dislike and wish to put
an end to the Jewish state by firing mortar shells from the Syrian
occupied Golan Heights into the Jewish settlements of the Upper Galilee
below. For 19 years, Jewish settlements in the north were under constant
threat of Syrian guns.
Today, one can see the former Syrian bunkers that remain on the Golan
Heights from 1967 (as well as the tanks from 1973). Israel has had a
quiet northern border on the Golan side for 32 years. The Syrians have
used Israel's northern border with Lebanon to harass Israel the way they
used to from the Golan Heights. Since 1992, the Golan has been up for
discussion in the peace talks.
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 wild beauty.
When the Golan was captured in 1967, at almost the end of the Six-Day
War, settlers in the north could finally breathe a sigh of relief. And
much of the credit for Israel's ability to capture the Golan was due to
Eli Cohen, Israel's greatest spy.
The Golan is not only important for its military significance. It also
provides 30% of Israel's water sources. The three major tributaries of
the upper Jordan River - the Dan, the Baniyas, and the Hatzbani - all
originate ion the Golan. The melting winter snows produce a huge run-off
of water which make the Golan itself a beautifully verdant area in the
late winter and spring, and irrigate the Hula and Jordan Valleys below.
Its waters flow into the Sea of Galilee (the Kinneret) and south to the
Dead Sea.
The Kinneret supplies Israel with most of its water needs. In the
1960's, Israel developed a national water carrier which diverted water
from the Kinneret into a pipeline that irrigated much of the country -
and especially Israel's arid south.
Israel tried to obtain the cooperation of her Arab neighbors for the
plan but the Arabs would not agree, even when the United States tried to
use its diplomatic leverage for the furtherance of the plan.
The Arabs would have none of it, and decided to "divert the sources of
the Jordan River which originated in Arab-held territory." In this way,
the Arabs hoped to deprive Israel of the waters she would need for her
national growth.
Syria brought hydraulic engineers and diversion equipment to actualize
the scheme. This coincided with the continuance of Palestinian terrorist
infiltrators arriving from the Syrian border, along with a continual
flow of Soviet technical assistance to Syria. "Israel's defense planners
urgently needed reliable intelligence on the scope of the water
diversion project - engineering plans, diagrams, maps, and other data -
and up-to-the-minute assessments of Soviet influence in the Syrian
capital, as well as detailed information on plans for the modernization,
equipping, and retraining of Syrian forces." Eli Cohen was the man for
the job.
Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, on December 26, 1928 [sic
1924]. "His parents, Syrian Jews from the thriving town of Aleppo, had
always instilled in their educationally minded son the traditions of the
Jewish people, of Zionism, and of the culture of Syria's Jewish
community, in particular." In 1949 his parents and three brothers moved
to Israel while Eli remained in Egypt to coordinate Jewish and Zionist
activities there
.
(Note Operation Susannah below - saba note)
We may recall the Egyptian-Jewish spies from the Operation Susannah
fiasco, which we learned about at the beginning of the course. They were
caught spying for Israel in 1953 and some of them were hanged. A number
were only released 14 years later, after the 1967 War. While Eli was not
directly involved with the Operation Susannah spies, he was involved
with pro-Israel activity, and he was brutally questioned by Egypt's
Intelligence Services.
Even after the blown operation led to the demise of the Operation
Susannah spies, Eli Cohen left Egypt for Israel in order to undergo
intensive espionage training in the summer of 1955. He even trained at
the same facility "that had served as home to his doomed Susannah
compatriots in 1953." He returned to Egypt in 1956, but was suspected
immediately and was placed under surveillance. 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. He arrived in
Israel on February 8, 1957.
Eli Cohen, at 29, offered his services to the Israeli Intelligence
Services but was rebuked twice. He wasn't even drafted into regular
service, but was "placed in a reserve Israeli Air Force formation as a
logistics clerk." Perhaps he wasn't allowed into the security service
due to his Military Intelligence evaluation some years before.
"The agency concluded that Cohen had a high IQ, great bravery, a
phenomenal memory, and the ability to keep a secret; but the tests also
showed that 'in spite of his modest appearance, he has an exaggerated
sense of self-importance,' and 'a lot of internal tension.' Cohen, the
results indicated, 'does not always evaluate danger correctly, and is
liable to assume risks beyond those which are necessary.'"
On August 31, 1959, he married a beautiful Iraqi-born Jew, Nadia Majald.
He worked as an accountant. Employment was not always steady, and he
soon had to rely more on Nadia to help support their marriage, which
would quickly lead to children.
By 1960, however, Israeli Intelligence was ready to take another look at
Eli Cohen. Eli, after all, was born in an Arab country, had oriental
features, was known to be selfless and fearless in pursuit of a cause,
and had knowledge of Arabic, English, and French. The border with Syria
was heating up as well.
One day in 1960 Israeli Intelligence approached him about working for
them again. At first he refused. But within a month he had lost his Tel
Aviv-based accountancy job. When Intelligence came by a second time, he
jumped at it. "His training was extensive and exhaustive. He was taught
high-speed evasive driving techniques, Weapons proficiency (especially
with a wide variety of small arms), topography, map reading, sabotage,
and, most importantly, radio transmissions and cryptography. These
skills were instrumental in ensuring the safety and survival of one
Kamal Amin Ta'abet: Eli Cohen's new identity. One of the most difficult
tasks for Eli Cohen was to learn the intricate and unmistakable phonetic
tune of Syrian Arabic; prior to his intelligence training, his Egyptian
accent was undeniable."
His trainer was an Iraqi-born Jew who had trained operatives in Arabic
language and traditions and Moslem customs for along time.
Intelligence created a completely new identity for him. Kamal Amin
Ta'abet (also called Tabas in some sources) was born in Beirut, Lebanon,
to Syrian Muslim parents. His father's name was Amin Ta'bet, and his
mother's Sa'adia Ibrahim. According to his fictional biography, in 1948
"the family moved to Argentina, where they opened a successful textile
business." Kamal Amin Ta'abet's (Eli Cohen) return to Syria would
ostensibly be the fulfillment of a lifelong patriotic dream.
In early 1961, Chaim Herzog, Chief of Military Intelligence and later
president of Israel, signed the document authorizing Cohen's use as a
spy. He was driven to the airport, where his wife Nadia saw him off. She
understood from him that he would be working for the Ministry of
Defense, but she didn't know where or in what capacity. She was told he
would be completely safe and she believed that until his capture in
1965.
Eli Cohen was first sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to establish his
cover as a Syrian emigre. He soon established himself in the social and
cultural life of the Syrian community of Buenos Aires and was known as a
wealthy businessman who was generous, tipped well, and loved the night
life. He soon became accepted, well-liked and respected, and made
contacts with politicians, diplomats and military officials working out
of the Syrian Embassy. One of them was Colonel Amin al-Hafaz, a
supporter of the secular-leftist Ba'ath party.
Cohen's contacts, nurtured through a string of lavish dinner parties,
social occasions, and friendships with those in high places, led to
invitations to visit Damascus and to set up a business venture there. 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.
Nine months later, in late 1961, Eli came back to Israel for a visit
with his wife Nadia. But he spent most of his time in Tel Aviv
"perfecting his cover and being briefed on Aman's requirements of him in
Syria, as well as last-minute intelligence data needed for his mission."
Needless to say, his success in effectively penetrating the Syrian
social and political/diplomatic/military strata already wildly exceeded
Aman's expectations of him
Cohen arrived in Damascus in February 1962, posing as a businessman from
Argentina who had returned to his native land. At the end of 1961 Syria
dissolved its union with Egypt, which had lasted a mere three years. The
Ba'ath party was rising to power and Eli Cohen wanted to be there when
it actually took power. He carefully cultivated contacts with the Ba'ath
leadership, which included the Syrian military attache in Argentina,
General Amin al-Hafaz. He continued his social life, spending a lot of
time in cafes listening to political gossip. He also held parties at his
home, which turned into orgies for high-placed Syrian ministers,
businessmen, and others, who used Eli's apartment "for assignations with
various women, including Defense Ministry secretaries, airline
hostesses, and Syrian singing stars."
At these parties such highly-placed officials would "talk freely of
their work and army plans. 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. Eli himself was not above the spicier part of a spy's
life either. "The 'husband hunters' among the Damascus rich and
influential flocked to the handsome Ta'abet, hoping that their almond
eyes, Byzantine beauty, and olive skin would secure a future of wealth
and power:
He became the most sought after bachelor in the Syrian capital. He did
not object, in fact, to the idea of a ladies' man reputation.
He had seventeen lovers in Syria, all dazzling beauties with a fair
degree of family power."
(You know this guy had a problem...sab note)
Eli hoped as did Israeli Intelligence - that these women "would help him
escape in time of crisis."
With time he was taken even more into the confidence of the highest
echelons of power. He became a confidante of George Saif, high up in the
Ministry of Information. "The complete trust Cohen enjoyed among his
unwitting informants is illustrated by the following incident, which
might have serious consequences for the Israeli agents.
One day Cohen was sitting in Saif's office reading a classified document
while the Syrian was on the phone. One of the ministry's directors
entered the room unannounced.
'How is it that you dare allow a stranger to read a classified
document?' he angrily asked Saif.
Saif calmly replied, 'There's nothing to worry about. He's a trusted
friend.'"
When the Ba'ath took power in 1963, Eli was firmly entrenched in Syrian
high society. Meanwhile, every few days he transmitted important
information to his Israeli handlers via a radio transmitter he had
hidden in his room.
Periodically Eli would return to Israel to speak with his Israeli
handlers and visit his wife and small children. Altogether, he returned
to Israel three times between 1962 and 1965.
At the beginning of this lecture we talked about the Syrian project to
divert water from the headwaters of the Jordan away from Israel. Eli was
friends with two highly placed Army officers, Colonels Hatoum and Dali,
who were fully informed about the scheme. In early 1964, Eli was able to
radio Tel Aviv that the channel was being dug along the entire length of
the Syrian Heights to receive the diverted flow of the Baniyas River -
one of the Jordan's major sources - and empty into Jordanian territory."
Eli carefully spelled out all the details of the project and passed them
on to Israeli Intelligence. Due to this information, the Israeli Air
Force was able to obliterate the Syrian plans for the diversion scheme
by shelling and bombing the bulldozers and other equipment used for the
scheme in early 1964.
Eli's connections enabled him to be taken to the Golan Heights - a major
strategic asset for Syria from 1948-67. As we saw, the Syrians
continually harassed Israel's northern settlements from 1948-67. The
Golan Heights defenses were top-secret and closed only to top military
staff. "Nevertheless, Kamal Amin Ta'abet (Eli Cohen) succeeded in
visiting each and every position.
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 remembered and
passed on to Israeli Intelligence the "positioning of every Syrian gun,
trench, and machine-gun nest in each Golan Heights fortification; tank
traps, designed to impede any Israeli attack, were also identified and
memorized for future targeting." One of the more famous aspects of his
spying regarded a trip he took to the Golan Heights. 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. The Syrian officer readily agreed -
and Eli immediately passed the information onto Israel. Based on the
eucalyptus trees, Israel knew exactly where the Syrian fortifications
were.
Eli's friendship with Amin al-Hafez proved very valuable. After Hafez
became Prime Minister, Eli was even considered to be named the Syrian
Deputy Minister of Defense.
But changes were taking place in the Syrian Government that alarmed Eli.
In addition, the commander of Syrian Intelligence, Colonel Ahmed
Su'edani trusted no one and disliked Eli. Eli expressed his fear and
wish to terminate his assignment in Syria during his last visit to
Israel in November 1964. Still, Israeli Intelligence asked him to return
to Syria one more time. The information he had been providing them for
years was too good to forego.
Eli did go back to Syria, but his behavior changed. 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. T
he transmissions became longer as well. Some attributed this to a sense
of cockiness (despite the fears he had expressed in November 1964), due
to the ability and ease he had moved about in the highest echelons of
Syrian power.
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 couldn't get out of it. Because of that, perhaps he
just tired of the whole charade.
The Syrians and their Russian advisers were alarmed by the intelligence
that was seeping out of the country.
The highly vigilant Russian security experts, equipped with very
sensitive technical intelligence-gathering equipment, pinpointed the
source of the transmissions in the Syrian capital - and it was Eli's
home. One day in January 1961, Syrian intelligence broke into his home
in the middle of a transmission. The leading figure in the break-in was
the head of Syrian Intelligence, Colonel Ahmed Su'edani - Eli's nemesis.
Eli was caught in the act and there was nothing he could do. He was
tortured, but he wouldn't give away any incriminating information about
Israel.
His captors later remarked on his noble bearing and his courage despite
the horrific Syrian interrogation methods.
(Oh so - class tells - OSaba)
He then underwent a show trial, like the Operation Susannah spies had in
Egypt 12 years before., Like them, his verdict was predetermined.
World leaders, wealthy individuals, the Israeli government, the Pope,
and others all intervened on his behalf. To no avail. He was hanged on
May 18, 1965. He wrote a last letter to his wife before he mounted the
scaffold to a seething crowd.
The execution was broadcast on Syrian television. After his execution, a
white parchment filled with anti-Zionist writing was put on his body and
he was left hanging for six hours.
Eli Cohen provided an incredible amount of intelligence data to the
Israeli Army over a period of three years. In 1967, the Israelis were
able to conquer the Golan Heights in two days - in part due to the
intelligence he provided. As Intelligence Chief Meir Amit said, Eli
"succeeded far beyond the capabilities of most other men."
What is perhaps most amazing about Eli Cohen is that he was genuinely
liked - even loved - by so many of the top Syrian leaders. He had an
input into and an impact on Syrian national defense, and was privy to
almost all of their secrets. He genuinely fit into life in the Syrian
capital and he was never suspected of being a
spy until almost the very end.
It is for these reasons Eli Cohen is known as Israel's greatest spy.
(he still got caught......what a waste....Osaba note)
Well they still got Ehud and Ariel Scheinman aka Sharon aka the Fat Slob
but hey if one danced with Eli you would know with whom you had
dancned.....
OSaba
Fatal Weakness Was Handsome Men
Source: The Pedagogic Center, The
Department for Jewish Zionist Education, The Jewish Agency for Israel,
(c) 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, Director: Dr. Motti Friedman, Webmaster:
Esther Carciente
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http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Eli_Cohen.html
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