ISRAEL

Eli Cohen

Elihu ben Shaul Cohen worked as a Mossad agent in Damascus, Syria, from 1962 until his exposure and execution in May 1965. Because of his skill at building close ties with business, military, and Baath Party leaders, Cohen was able to supply considerable details on Syrian political and military matters. He was hanged in public with the television cameras rolling.

Dr. Wesley Britton provides some interesting materials (PDF files) on Cohen at http://www.spywise.net/cohenfiles.html.

Aldouby, Zwy, and Jerrold Ballinger. The Shattered Silence: The Eli Cohen Affair. New York: Coward, McCann, & Geoghegan, 1971. London: Lancer, 1971.

Pforzheimer calls this book a "reasonable account of the Israeli Mossad agent ... who ... penetrated the Syrian establishment prior to his arrest and execution in 1965." On the other hand, Constantinides finds the work "marred ... by the tendency of the authors to insert what seems to be propaganda against the Syrians and other Arabs." For Chambers, the book "makes the whole operation sound too easy, despite its enormous success. Perhaps a Mossad foray into public relations?"

Ben-Hanan, Eli. Our Man in Damascus. Tel Aviv: A.D.M., 1969.

Chambers: "The Israeli version of the Cohen case. Works hard on making the Syrians look foolish."

Hockstader, Lee. "Could a Dead Israeli Spy Influence the Talks?" Washington Post, 4 Jan. 2000, A11. [http://www.washingtonpost.com]

The writer reports speculation by Israeli analysts that Syria "could have a dramatic effect" on Israeli public opinion concerning the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Syria by returning Cohen's remains to Israel.

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