Mossad chief David Parnea on Monday revealed the final message sent by legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen on the day he was captured. in Syriaalong with new information about what led to his arrest.
Amid years of contention over the circumstances of Cohen’s blown cover — he was allegedly teleported a lot, or was pressured by his handlers — Parnia said “in-depth” new research conclusively proves Cohen was arrested “simply because his transmissions were intercepted and triangulated.” by the enemy.”
“Eli Cohen was among our best agents,” Barnea said at the inauguration of the new Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya.
Parnea praised Cohen’s “fighting spirit, courage, values, and dedication” and said he serves as an “inspiration” for all Mossad employees.
“We all learn from him, even today, from his Zionism, his sacrifice and his dedication.”
Cohen infiltrated the upper echelons of the Syrian political leadership in the years leading up to the 1967 Six-Day War. The information he obtained is believed to have played a major role in Israel’s overwhelming success in that war.
The last transmission Israel received from Israeli spy Eli Cohen on January 19, 1965, which was revealed by Mossad chief David Parnea during the opening ceremony of the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, December 12, 2022.
He was arrested in 1965 and hanged in Damascus. But the circumstances surrounding his arrest have been in dispute since then and are a source of ongoing debate. Some have argued that Cohen failed to follow procedures and tried to send too many messages, which caught the Syrians’ attention. Others blamed Cohen’s superiors, saying he was under enormous pressure to provide new information, which led to his arrest.
Mossad chief David Parnia speaks during the opening ceremony of the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, December 12, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Nearly 60 years later, Parnia has provided an answer, albeit an ambiguous one.
“I will honor this sacred place and reveal, for the first time, after a recent in-depth research, that Eli Cohen has not been caught for the amount of transmission or pressure from HQ to transmit too frequently,” he said.
Eli Cohen has been arrested Simply Because his transmission was intercepted and triangulated by the enemy,” Barnea said. “This is now an intelligence fact.”
It also revealed the content of Cohen’s last transmission, received on January 19, 1965, the day he was arrested.
Eli Cohen (State of Israel, via Wikipedia)
Barnea said that Cohen’s last report was “about a discussion in the Syrian General Staff with the participation of then-president Amin al-Hafiz.”
He said Mossad would donate the original document containing Cohen’s transfer to the new museum erected in his memory.
Parnia praised Cohen’s “contribution to Israel’s security” and said that Israel’s National Intelligence Agency would continue to seek more information about Cohen’s time in Syria.
He also vowed to continue searching for Cohen’s remains.
In February 2021, it was reported that Russia, in cooperation with the Syrian authorities and under Israeli pressure, was searching the Yarmouk refugee camp area south of Damascus for Cohen’s body in order to transfer it to Israel.
From right to left: Mossad chief David Barnea. Nadia Cohen, the widow of the late Israeli spy Eli Cohen; First Lady Michelle Herzog; and President Isaac Herzog at the opening ceremony of the Eli Cohen Museum in Herzliya, December 12, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The following month, it was reported that a piece believed to belong to Cohen had been taken to Israel. Citing an unnamed Syrian government source, Israeli reports at the time said the material could be a document or article from Cohen’s clothing.
The office of then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied the reports and it remains unknown if such a thing actually exists.
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