177:; April 10, 1922 โ July 15, 2002) was "one of the fathers of Israeli espionage". Much of his life was spent living under various false identities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. A deep-cover Mossad agent, he infiltrated neo-Nazi groups as well as governments that were hostile to Israel. Cohen wrote a book about the undercover unit he helped to create inside the Palmach, which was posthumously published by the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Galili Center for Defense Studies. Nearly all of Cohen's work at Mossad remains classified today, and his very existence was only publicly acknowledged after his death.
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documents which identified him as a
Palestinian. He moved to Beirut using this false identity, and set up a textile shop which served as the front for his spying activities. Cohen gathered information about military installations and Lebanese war efforts against Israel, which he transmitted to his commanders by writing letters in code.
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Cohen joined Mossad shortly after the State of Israel was created. He worked under deep cover in France during the 1950s. Posing as a journalism student, he was hired as a clerk at the Syrian
Embassy in Paris. His job at the Syrian embassy provided him access to sensitive political and military
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Cohen completed active-duty Mossad service in 1964. Thereafter, he served as a trainer for the next generation of
Israeli spies. For many years after his death, Mossad cadets studied his trade craft, information-gathering techniques, and methods for developing contacts at high levels of foreign
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In 1958, the Cohens moved to
Austria. He worked as a journalist, writing articles that were published in various Arab-language newspapers. Cohen's alias as a reporter from the Middle East provided him access to several embassies in Europe, where he befriended diplomats and visited the home of the
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While retired, Cohen gave an interview describing deep-cover activities as "your own, private battlefield." Due to the inherently lonely nature of intelligence work, he stated, a covert operative must love his role and believe it is his destiny. When encountering trouble, the operative must be
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In
October 1954, Cohen married Aleeza Tahan, a young Israeli woman who had also been born in Damascus, Syria. Like her husband, Aleeza worked for Mossad in Europe, under the false identity of an immigrant from the Middle East. She served as a messenger, carrying documents from Cohen to another
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Cohen joined the
Palmach in 1944. He helped build the department of undercover soldiers known as DAWN. DAWN took advantage of the dark complexion of Israelis who had immigrated from Middle Eastern countries, as well as their familiarity with Islam and Arabic culture. In 1948, Cohen received
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Cohen spent his final years authoring the book, "Undercover: The Untold Story of the
Palmach's Clandestine Arab Unit." Cohen wrote the book in first person, analyzing his training and operations during the 1940s. It also discussed his personal relationships and work abroad during his Palmach
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Cohen died of natural causes, at age 80, in a Tel Aviv hospital. Historian Meir Pail stated, "Gamliel was known in the intelligence community as one of the most successful intelligence agents in
Israeli history. The public never heard of him because he was never caught."
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ambassador. Cohen penetrated neo-Nazi groups, which were of interest to his bosses in Israel during the 1950s and 1960s. In those years, Mossad was actively searching for war criminals who had committed atrocities during the
Holocaust.
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Mossad operative. Aleeza often lived in isolation, without social contact or communication with her family in Israel. The Cohens had two daughters while living abroad, and a third child was born in Israel.
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Undercover: The Untold Story of the
Palmach's Clandestine Arab Unit. Gamliel Cohen. Israeli Ministry of Defense and Galili Center for Defense Studies, 2002.
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Do Any of us Know Where we are Meant to Meet Destiny? The Story of Gamliel Cohen (1922-2002). Mican Veh Misham Magazine. September 2012. Volume 16.
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Babel in Zion: Jews, Nationalism, and Language Diversity in Palestine, 920-1948. Liora R. Halperin, Yale University Press, Nov 28, 2014.
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Gamliel Cohen, a Senior Israeli Intelligence Agent, has Died. Arutz 7, Israel National Radio. July 17, 2002.
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Aleeza Cohen, the Wife at his Side. Mican Veh Misham Magazine. September 2012. Volume 16.
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Debating Orientalism. Ziad Elmarsafy and Anna Bernard, Springer, June 13, 2013.
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documents, which he secretly photographed and sent the film to Israel.
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Jews from the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon
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285:Israelโs Secret Founding Fathers
218:Gamliel and Aleeza Cohen in Rome
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130:1948 Arab-Israeli War
116:Years of service
35:Gamliel Cohen in 1955
480:People of the Mossad
442:2016-04-07 at the
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399:. Retrieved
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144:Aleeza Tahan
124:Battles/wars
73:(2002-07-15)
71:15 July 2002
470:2002 deaths
465:1922 births
447:(in Hebrew)
383:(in Hebrew)
355:(in Hebrew)
338:(in Hebrew)
249:Final Years
41:Native name
459:Categories
401:2023-12-19
296:References
181:Early life
175:ืืืืืื ืืื
82:Allegiance
57:1922-04-10
45:ืืืืืื ืืื
258:service.
141:Spouse(s)
119:1944โ1964
440:Archived
187:Damascus
149:Children
100:Service/
197:Palmach
110:Palmach
223:Family
206:Mossad
171:Hebrew
106:Mossad
102:branch
94:Israel
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266:Death
191:Syria
68:Died
51:Born
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