This Week in History: Syria hangs Israeli spy Eli Cohen

Premium special: A glimpse into historical moments in Israeli news from this week in 'The Jerusalem Post' front covers.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
 
On May 18, 1965,  Eli Cohen, known as one of Israel's greatest spies, was hung in a public square in Damascus, Syria. Cohen was sent to Syria disguised as Kamel Amin Thaabet, and managed to infiltrate the highest levels of the Syrian government in the 1960s. He passed on information to Israel that eventually contributed to the IDF's victory in the Six Day War. In 1965, Cohen was caught in the act of transmitting information to Israel. He was tried and found guilty of espionage, and hanged publicly in May of that year.
On May 24, 1960, The Jerusalem Post reported that Mazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann, had been found by Israel Security Forces and put under arrest. On December 11, 1961, the Jerusalem District Court issued him with the first and only death sentence in the state's history, for crimes against the Jewish people, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Eichmann was a central "architect" of the Final Solution, and support for his death sentence was widespread in Israel. 
On May 19, 1977, then-Likud leader Menachem Begin angered the US by calling for Jewish settlement in the West Bank.  The US has opposed the establishment of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, since the Six Day War in 1967. Begin, who became Israel sixth prime minister the following month, and his government actively promoted settlements-building in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
 
Twelve years on, the issue remained a bone of contention between the Israeli and US governments, and on May 23, 1989, then-US Secretary of State James Baker urged Israel to "stop settlement activity" in the West Bank and Gaza, and lay aside its vision of Greater Israel. Switch "Baker" with "Kerry" and the headline could easily have been taken from today's paper.