Eli Cohen

Who was Eli Cohen?

Eliahu ben Shaoul Cohen was an Israeli spy. He is best known for his espionage work in 1961 - 1965 in Syria, where he developed close relationships with the political and military hierarchy and became the Chief Adviser to the Minister of Defense. Syrian counter-intelligence authorities eventually uncovered a spy conspiracy, tried and convicted Cohen under pre-war 'martial law' to death penalty in 1965. The intelligence he gathered is claimed to have been an important factor in Israel's success in the Six Day War.

In 2005, he was voted the 26th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.