WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Undetected: Eli Cohen Part 2

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

This week, Megan and Alessia highlight Eli Cohen's successes in Syria and discuss the final moments of his espionage career.

Welcome to Undetected on Radio Free Hillsdale. Go undercover with your hosts, Alessia Sandala and Megan Lee, as they uncover the stories of spies from every country and time. The most thrilling, yet the most secret of lives in history. Welcome back, everyone. It's great to be back with Alessia after a short break, and we certainly have a fantastic story to wrap up this week. That's right, Megan.

When we left off two weeks ago, Israeli spy, Ellie Cohen, had befriended powerful Syrian officials and was ready to put the foundations he had laid for his mission to the test. In 1962, the moment Cohen had been preparing for finally came. Cohen was ordered to move to Damascus, Syria, where he used his contacts to gain the trust of the rising political leaders in the country. An important part of Cohen's cover, Camille Amin Thabet, was that he owned a successful import export business, drawing him further into the complicated world of Syrian politics. As he did in Argentina, Cohen hosted extremely grand parties, where he commonly pretended to be

drunk to convince top officials to talk about political and military affairs in front of him. Talk about an excellent strategy, Megan. Seriously. Cohen became so deeply embedded in the ruling class that he even became an unofficial advisor to some government officials. Wait until you hear this, Alessia. Cohen was actually invited to visit military facilities in the heart of his enemy's land. Perhaps the most famous example is Golan Heights, a top secret, strategically placed military asset for Syria.

He saw the locations of artillery and fortifications, and exactly where and how Syria had been targeting Israel. And after memorizing them, relayed them all to Israeli intelligence. Things just keep getting better and better for our Israeli spy here. Oh, the story gets even better. Cohen managed to convince the Syrians to plant eucalyptus trees right next to the fortifications, which would later serve as targets for Israeli forces. Cohen also tipped off his handlers that the Syrians were planning to divert the Jordan River away from Israel, which had made up about 30% of Israel's water supply.

This enabled Israeli air forces to put an end to the Syrian construction. That was easily one of Cohen's greatest accomplishments. Cohen transmitted information back to Israel via coded radio transmissions, letters, and extremely rare secret visits back to Israel. Despite being able to see his family again, we will hear his wife discuss how his second life as Camille Amin Thabet had taken a toll on his identity as Ellie Cohen, the husband of Nadia Majald. On his last visit, he had changed.

He was unusually tense. He was getting upset over many meaningless incidents. His eyes were red. He even shouted at his sister, saying, Leave me alone. My hands are on fire. When Ellie Cohen returned to Syria, he continued to transmit coded messages. But his eagerness to communicate all the information that he was finding out

turned out to be his downfall. The regularity of his coded transmissions made the Syrian officials begin to suspect. that there was a spy among them. Cohen typically transmitted his reports in a pattern, which if we have learned anything about spies, is always a terrible idea. On January 24, 1964, the team hunting the sores heard a live transmission and were then able to triangulate its location in Damascus.

In the early hours of the morning, Syrian police stormed the Damascus apartment that the transmission came from. In the apartment, they found a shocked, Ellie Cohen. Cohen was arrested and taken to be interrogated. for information. At the same time, Israel tried everything they possibly could to convince Syria to return Cohen or even to just spare his life. Syria, however, refused to return Cohen despite cries from around the world begging for

his safety. Instead, Cohen was repeatedly tortured and given what was claimed to be a trial without representation. Yeah, this isn't really much of a surprise considering the treatment that spies have received throughout history. On May 18, 1965, Cohen was hanged in Margea Square in Damascus for all of Syria to see on their teams. In 2008, Assyrian officials said that Cohen's remains were buried three times in three

different locations just to prevent Israel from ever finding his body. The information he provided to Israel allowed them to win the six-day war that would take place two years later in 1967. His legacy and courage will live forever in Israel. I'm Megan. And I'm Alessia. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Undetected. Tune in next week to discover the secrets of the Italian spy

most people have never heard of. Mauritio Giulio. On Radio Free Hillsdale, 101.7 FM.