Eli Cohen's Wall Etchings

The story of Eli Cohen spying for Israel from a high position in the Syrian government, and ultimately helping the Israelis win the Six Day War, despite having been executed in Syria a year prior, has always fascinated me. I think it started when touring the Golan Heights shortly after I first came to Israel and the group leader described the fascinating story of Eli Cohen. Sure, I had heard the basics before that, but ever since then I have been fascinated by his story.

A new piece of information in the Eli Cohen story has just come to light. It does not really change anything, but it is fascinating nonetheless. A Kurdish journalist, Dawood Baghestani, who had served time in a Syrian prison in the early 1970s, has said that when he was in the prison, guards had told him his jail cell had previously been occupied by none other than Eli Cohen.

While in prison, I guess Baghestani had nothing else to do, it seems he must have looked over every inch of his cell. Baghestani found etchings from Eli Cohen in which he had written "I don't regret what I have done, only what I could have done and didn’t have the chance to do. Sometimes close friends fail those who can act".

In addition to that, Baghestani also said that while in prison he had met another Kurdish prisoner who said he had been in prison at the same time as Cohen. According to the report, this other Kurd had told Baghestani that Cohen had believed he had been imprisoned because of a close associate.