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Eli Cohen ( December 26 , 1924 – May 18 , 1965 ) was a celebrated Israel i Spy , and is recognized as one the most successful spies of modern times. Born in Egypt , Cohen contributed to pro-Israeli activities in Egypt during the 1950s , but the most important part of his career began when he was recruited into Israeli Military Intelligence in 1960 . He was given a false identity as a Syria n Arab who was returning to Syria after living in Argentina . To establish his cover, Cohen moved to Argentina in 1961 and early the following year moved to Damascus . For the next few years, using the alias Kamel Amin Tsa'abet (also commonly pronounced Sa'bet or Tha'bet), Cohen successfully gained the confidence of many Syrian military and government officials, and sent intelligence to Israel by Radio , secret letters, and occasionally by visiting Israel in person. His most famous achievement was to tour the Syrian Fortification s on the Golan Heights . In 1964 his control was transferred to Mossad as part of an intelligence reorganization. In January 1965 hired Soviet experts caught him in the act of sending a radio message after large amounts of radio interference brought attention. After a trial he was found guilty of Espionage and publicly hanged by Syria on May 18 , 1965 . Achievements Cohen made many very critical friendships with high-ranking Syrian generals while undercover. While on a tour of the Syrian military fortifications in the Golan Heights with Syrian personnel before being discovered, Cohen suggested that trees should be planted around Arab bunkers and mortars that targeted Israel. That way, Cohen argued, the trees would provide natural cover for the outposts. After his suggestion was implemented by the Syrian military, Cohen passed on the information to Israel, whose airforce — using the newly planted trees as a guide — easily destroyed the majority of the bases during the Six-Day War . Also, Cohen learned of an important secret, Syrian war plan. Cohen uncovered their plan to have three lines of bunkers and mortars right after each other in order to trick the Israeli Military who would have only known of one at a time. While in Syria, Eli Cohen was able to collect ample information on Syrian Airforce pilots. This included their real and code names and family information. On the eve of the Six Day War , two Syrian fighter jet flew towards Tel-Aviv with intent to heavily bomb the largely populated city. Israeli intelligence radiod the Syrian fighters, a message stating their real names and the names of their children. The threatened them saying that if they dropped their bombs, undercover agents would kill their families. The pilots then proceeded to drop their bombs on the sea, radio back to Syrian headquarters that the mission was a success and leave Israeli airspace. According to his brother and fellow Mossad agent, Maurice Cohen , Eli Cohen's alias was third in the line of succession to become president of Syria when he was discovered. Requests by his family for his remains to be returned to Israel have been denied by the Syrian government (as of February 2006). He is celebrated as a hero in Israel because he has been credited with being a deciding factor in the outcome of the Six-Day War. The film '' The Impossible Spy '' is a depiction of his life. He is honored at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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