Hafiz, who knew about Cohen's intentions, asked him: ‘what are you waiting for?', thus providing him with a direct invitation to Damascus. First, however, Mossad made Cohen take a detour to Tel Aviv, where he was allowed to see his wife as well as undergo further training. He now had to perfect the task of operating the miniature radios that he was to use in Syria, which transmitted encrypted messages in Morse Code. This was very important as each ‘pianist', as the radio operators used to be called, had their own way of typing a message; a personal touch, or signature, that was unlike anyone else's. This meant that if another ‘pianist' tried to send a message on the same machine, they would be easily identified as an imposter. On the other hand, if the user suddenly changed his signature, it would be clear that he was under some form of duress. This meant that Cohen, along with his handlers, had to learn to how to send and recognise his ‘signature'.
Once his training was complete, he once more flew to Zurich where he transformed into Kamel Amin Thaabet. He then headed for Beirut, before travelling to Damascus by road. Before leaving Israel, he had learned that a military coup in Syria had meanwhile led to the Ba'ath Party taking power and calling the county's unity with Egypt into question. This was a favourable situation for Cohen, as his contacts were all within the influential circles of this party.
He crossed over the border without difficulty; his transmitter carefully hidden inside some household equipment. Upon his arrival in Damascus, he began to look for an apartment. He could not possibly stay in a hotel as the transmitter and other equipment would likely attract attention. He found a place in a small building opposite the barracks that housed the Syrian Army. This location allowed him to glean certain nuggets of information: on nights when the barrack lights were on very late, Cohen could easily deduce that they were preparing themselves for something. What is more, the biggest advantage of his beautiful new apartment was that it was on the top floor, thus allowing him to install a discreet antenna on the roof for his transmitter.
The first important connection he made was with a young Syrian called Kemal, the son the Arab journalist he had met in Argentina, who had actually helped him to find his apartment. Kemal was a well-connected young man who was used to mixing in the best circles in the Syrian capital. Thanks to him, Cohen quickly built up an excellent address book, always under the guise of his import/export business. He told everyone he met that he intended to export Syrian furniture and handicrafts, which he later did. Once again because of Kemal and his connections, Cohen met a young lieutenant called Maazi (the nephew of the Syrian Army's Chief of Staff) and the two quickly became friends. Cohen was very much a people person and was undoubtedly well-liked. Only at night, when he was alone in his apartment sending messages to Tel Aviv, did he become Eli Cohen.
Lieutenant Maazi was naturally an important contact. One can learn a great deal from a simple, yet well-directed, conversation, and with Maazi, Cohen could accomplish many things.
Ben Porat and Uri Dan
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In his first weeks in Damascus, he had already met a number of manufacturers and traders whose products he offered to export to Europe, and particularly Munich. These included artisan tables, which were generally used as gaming tables and were part of the natural decor in most Syrian and Lebanese cafes and restaurants. He also discovered different types of Syrian objets d’art, old and new jewellery and various leather objects, all of which, in his opinion, were capable of being sold in Europe. The spy was careful to explain to traders that he was connected with a large import company in Europe, whose headquarters were in Munich and Zurich, which would allow him to export the art objects and folk tables that were very popular in Europe. These negotiations involved him corresponding with the main agent of the company, who was none other than his primary contact: his friend, Salinger.64
The friendship between Cohen and Lieutenant Maazi became so strong that the Israeli spy managed to convince his friend to take him on a tour of the border around the Golan. The visit was of particular interest to Cohen, not only because he could provide Tel Aviv with precise locations of the Syrian Army's defensive positions, but it would also enable him to look at their work to potentially divert the water supply from the plateau's rivers.
This river diversion project had also been helped by Soviet experts: the outline of the canal had been marked out and the first bulldozers had already begun digging. The plan was that one of the rivers that fed into the Sea of Galilee would instead be diverted to the Yarmouk River, in Jordan. The Israelis had done all they could to delay the work, and had occupied the Golan immediately after the end of the Six Day War. The conquest of this strategic plateau had been a major objective for them, primarily because of its water source.
Cohen therefore managed to accomplish something quite special on his visit to the border with his friend Maazi. As the lieutenant was the nephew of the Army Chief of Staff, they had no difficulty accessing the
