Retired Syrian counterintelligence officer Said Jawish, in an interview with Al-Majalla, shared details of the operation against Israeli intelligence officer Eli Cohen, who was executed by the Syrians in 1965. Jauish, who speaks Hebrew, was one of the leaders of the operation.
According to him, the first messages of a Mossad agent who penetrated the highest echelons of the Syrian regime were intercepted back in 1962. But only in 1965 it was possible to establish where the transmissions were coming from. During the search, Jaouish discovered a transmitter in Cohen’s apartment.
The Syrian intelligence officer spent six days in Cohen’s apartment. According to him, he made no attempt to escape and said that he used Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” as the key to the code. He continued to claim that he was a Syrian Arab, but under physical pressure he first admitted that he was Israeli and then gave his real name.
Jaouish said that he was against imposing the death sentence, believing that Cohen would be more useful as a prisoner, but his point of view was ignored. He believes that for someone in the Syrian leadership, a living witness could pose a danger. The counterintelligence officer said that until the very end, Cohen was confident that Israel would rescue him.
The Syrians understood that Israel would make a lot of efforts to return the remains of the intelligence officer. In order not to draw attention to them, it was decided to bury one of the elite units on the territory of the base. The scout does not know which one, but believes that the body remains there today.