Who Is Eli Cohen? As Israel Attacks Iran, Movies On Mossad's Heroic Spy Ops You Shouldn't Miss

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Eli Cohen's reports were so valuable that they helped Israel prepare for the Six-Day War in 1967.
On June 12, Israel launched a major airstrike on Iran, targeting key nuclear facilities and high-ranking military officials. However, the attack wasn't limited to aerial strikes; Israel's spy agency, Mossad, had been laying the groundwork for months with covert operations on the ground.
According to a report in Axios, hundreds of Mossad agents were involved in secret missions both inside Iran and at their headquarters. These included a special team of Iranian operatives working for Mossad. In central Iran, Mossad placed guided weapon systems near Iranian missile launchers. In other areas, advanced weapons hidden in vehicles were quietly deployed. When the airstrikes began, these hidden weapons were activated, which hit Iran's air defences.
The report mentioned that Mossad even built a hidden drone base inside Iran. On the day of the strike, they were launched from inside the country and destroyed Iranian ballistic missile launchers near Tehran. These risky and secretive missions inside another country reminded many of Eli Cohen, one of Israel's most well-known spies. His story was shown in the 2019 Netflix series The Spy, where actor Sacha Baron Cohen played his role.
Who Is Eli Cohen?
Eli Cohen was born in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Syrian Jewish parents. Fluent in Arabic, English, and French, he possessed the linguistic skills ideal for espionage. Following his expulsion from Egypt during the Suez Crisis, Cohen immigrated to Israel in 1957, where he worked as a translator and accountant.
But his skills didn't go unnoticed. In 1960, Mossad recruited him for a secret mission. After training, he was sent to Argentina under the alias Kamal Amin Thaabet, a Syrian businessman. There, he built strong ties with members of the Syrian community, and these connections later helped him enter Syria.
In 1962, Eli Cohen moved to Damascus, Syria. He used his fake identity to build strong relationships with top officials. His cover was so believable that he was welcomed into the inner circles of power.
In 1963, a political change in Syria helped him even more. Some of the people he had met earlier in Argentina came into power after a Ba'athist military coup. With their support, Cohen gained even deeper access to military and political secrets.
From 1961 to 1965, he passed important information to Israel, especially about the Syrian army's plans and the Golan Heights, a region both countries claimed. His reports were so valuable that they helped Israel prepare for the Six-Day War in 1967. At one point, he was even being considered for a senior role in the Syrian government, including deputy minister of defence.
But his success didn't last. Mossad had warned him not to send messages too often. Still, he continued to use his radio regularly and at fixed times. Syrian intelligence noticed this pattern.
In early 1965, they caught him while he was sending a message. He was arrested, put on trial and then publicly executed in May that year.
Mossad's Operations That Became Movie Plots
Munich (2005)
Munich is a film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is based on the 1984 book Vengeance by George Jonas. The story is about the secret mission carried out by Mossad after the 1972 Munich Olympics, where a Palestinian group called Black September killed Israeli athletes. In response, Mossad tracked down and killed those responsible. The film shows how a team of agents carried out this mission known as Wrath of God. Munich was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture.
Kidon (2013)
Kidon is a French-Israeli spy action-comedy film written and directed by Emmanuel Naccache. The story centres on the killing of Hamas military commander Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh, who was found dead in a Dubai hotel room in 2010. In the film, Mossad tries to figure out who was behind the assassination. In real life, Al-Mabhouh was wanted by Israel for the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and for smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza. The film gets its name from Kidon, a secret Mossad unit known for special operations.
The Angel (2018)
In The Angel, the story doesn't follow a typical Mossad agent but instead focuses on someone from the other side, who is an Egyptian. Directed by Ariel Vromen, the film tells the real-life story of Ashraf Marwan, a high-ranking Egyptian official who secretly worked with Mossad. Marwan was not only a top government figure but also the son-in-law of Egypt's former President Gamal Abdel Nasser. What made his story so remarkable is that while serving his country, he was also passing crucial information to Israel. His secret work helped avoid war and maintain peace in the region. The film is based on the book The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel by Uri Bar-Joseph.
Operation Finale (2018)
Directed by Chris Weitz, Operation Finale is based on a real 1960 mission where Israeli agents secretly tracked down and captured Adolf Eichmann, a former Nazi officer. Eichmann was one of the main people behind the Holocaust. The agents brought him to Jerusalem, where he stood trial for crimes against humanity.
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The Red Sea Diving Resort (2019)
The Red Sea Diving Resort is a spy thriller written and directed by Gideon Raff. The film stars Chris Evans as a Mossad agent who leads a secret mission to rescue Ethiopian-Jewish refugees from Sudan. The story is loosely based on real events from 1984–1985 when Mossad carried out Operation Moses and Operation Joshua. During these missions, agents helped refugees escape from danger in Sudan and brought them safely to Israel. To do this, Mossad used an old, abandoned holiday resort called Arous Village located on the Sudanese Red Sea coast, around 70 km north of Port Sudan.
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First Published:
June 14, 2025, 11:31 IST
News viral Who Is Eli Cohen? As Israel Attacks Iran, Movies On Mossad's Heroic Spy Ops You Shouldn't Miss