Michael Harari: The Eli Cohen Affair and the New Regime in Damascus – New Revelations After Assad's Fall

Michael Harari presents new revelations in the Eli Cohen affair, following an interview with Said Jawi, who headed the Syrian listening unit that captured Cohen. Jawi describes the capture process, Cohen's burial at a Syrian military base, and the transfer of transmissions to Israel by the al-Sharaa regime.

Michael Harari, a retired ambassador and policy fellow at the Mitvim Institute, publishes an article in Zman Yisrael dealing with new revelations in the Eli Cohen affair, following the fall of the Assad regime in Syria. The article is based on an extensive interview conducted by the editor of the weekly "Al-Majalla", Ibrahim Hamidi, with Said Jawi, who headed the Syrian listening unit "Ishara 134" (Code 134). Jawi describes how he established the unit in 1958, how they intercepted suspicious transmissions in 1962, and how they managed to locate the source of the broadcast in Damascus and lead to Cohen's capture in 1965. He denies any Soviet or Indian involvement in the affair. Jawi reports that the day before Cohen's execution, six officers, including himself, discussed his burial at one of the Syrian army bases, to prevent Israeli searches. He does not know the exact location of the grave, but named the symbol of the battle, Qasim, who participated in the burial. The second main point is that according to Jawi, the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa transferred to Israel all intercepted transmissions, through the Mossad. However, Cohen's body, he says, is still in Syria. Harari notes that the al-Sharaa regime understood the sensitivity and importance of the affair to Israel, and may have sought to strengthen the legitimacy of its regime through the transfer of the material.