Eli Cohen, born Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen, was an Egyptian-born Israeli spy.
Subject of the Netflix series, The Spy, Cohen lived as Kamel Amin Thaabet in Syria in the early 1960s
Cohen built intimate friendships with Syrian politicians, military officials and West Asia's community of diplomats.
Before being deployed in Syria, Cohen smuggled Egyptian Jews into Israel amid increasing persecution of the community in Egypt during the early 1950s.
Eli Cohen joined Israel Defense Forces in 1957, and in later years worked for military counter-intelligence Mossad.
Cohen moved to Syria's capital Damascus in February 1962 and took the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet.
Cohen held parties at his Damascus residence, attended by Syrian military officials and businessmen who openly discussed their work and army plans.
Cohen used his ties with Syrian military to visit Golan Heights area bordering Israel. He collected information of Syrian fortifications and marked them by enabling plantation of trees, so that Israelis could know precise location of Syrian's strength.
Cohen's intelligence collection from Golan Heights enabled Israel to capture the strategically significant area during the Six-days war in 1967.
Cohen's activities were intercepted by the Syrian side in January 1965. He was hanged at a public square in Damascus in May 1965.
A national hero in Israel, Cohen was survived by wife Nadia and three children. His body was never returned to Israel