Eli Cohen

Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen (‎, ‎; 6 December 1924 – 18 May 1965) was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy. He is best known for his espionage work in Syria between 1961 and 1965, where he developed close relationships with the Syrian political and military hierarchy. Syrian counterintelligence eventually uncovered his espionage and convicted Cohen under pre-war martial law, sentencing him to death and hanging him publicly in 1965. Early life and career Cohen was born in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt, to a devout Mizrahi Jewish and Zionist family. His father had moved there from Aleppo in 1914. A devout Jew, Cohen wore tefillin during prayer. In his youth he planned to become a rabbi with the backing of (1893–1978), Chief Rabbi of Alexandria, but the yeshiva closed down. He studied at Cairo Farouk University. Cohen spoke five languages fluently. His parents and three brothers left for Israel in 1949, but he remained to finish a degree in electronics and coordinate Jewish and Zionist activities. Prior to the Egyptian revolution of 1952, Cohen was arrested and interrogated over his Zionist activities. He took part in various Israeli covert operations in the country during the 1950s, although the Egyptian government could never prove his involvement in Operation Goshen, an Israeli operation to smuggle Egyptian Jews out of the country and resettle them in Israel due to increasing hostility in Egypt.