Historical Dictionary of Israeli Intelligence

On the other side, the Syrians and their Soviet advisers were alarmed

by the intelligence that was leaking out of Syria. The Soviet security ex-

perts, equipped with highly sensitive technical intelligence-gathering

equipment, pinpointed Cohen’s apartment as the source of the Morse

Code transmissions emanating from Damascus. On 18 January 1965,

Syrian security men broke into Cohen’s apartment while he was in the

middle of transmitting to Israel. He was arrested and tortured, but pro-

vided no incriminating information about Israel. His captors later re-

marked on his courage despite the horrific Syrian interrogation meth-

ods. World leaders, business tycoons, the Israeli government, the pope,

and many others in the Western world rallied to support him, but he was

sentenced to death and was hanged on 18 May 1965. The execution in

the central square of Damascus was broadcast on Syrian television. A

white parchment covered with anti-Zionist slogans was put around his

body, which was left hanging for six hours. Eli Cohen is remembered

fondly as “Our Man in Damascus.”

COHEN, VICTOR.A Syrian-born Jew, Cohen joined the Arab coun-

terespionage section of the Israeli Security Agency(ISA) in 1952.

The section was then headed by Ya’acov Caroz. In 1956 the head of

the interrogation section, Zvi Aharoni, at his own initiative asked

Cohen to join his section. Cohen agreed, and he took part in the 1957

interrogation of Avraham (Avri) Elad. In 1959 Cohen became head

of the ISA interrogation section, replacing Aharoni, who moved to

the Mossad. Aryeh Hadar was appointed Victor Cohen’s deputy in

the ISA interrogation section.

COHEN COMMISSION.A commission appointed by the chief of the

General Staff, Lieutenant General Chaim Laskov, on 28 August 1960

to inquire into whether Pinhas Lavon, then defense minister and in

1960 secretary general of the Histadrut, was responsible for the col-

lapse of an Israeli-organized intelligence network in Egypt in 1954.

The Bad Businessof 1954 resurfaced and soon become known as the

Lavon Affair. The commission was chaired by Supreme Court Judge

Haim Cohen, who also acted as military legal adviser with the rank

of colonel. The two other commission members were Colonel

Aharon Doron and Colonel Mattityahu Peled. On 16 October 1960

the commission concluded: “The head of [Military Intelligence] and

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