The Spy (Miniseries)

The series centers on Eli Cohen’s penetration of the Syrian regime in the early 1960s, following his efforts to gain the confidence of political leaders and wealthy associates and obtain intelligence for Israel.[2] Released in Hebrew as “Eli,” it consists of six episodes of approximately an hour each; its Netflix Israel release was announced for September 6, 2019.[2]

Alongside the intelligence operation, the drama follows the strain on Cohen’s wife, Nadia, and their family while he works undercover.[4] A promotional trailer emphasized the lies required by his mission, while the series presents his constructed double identity as difficult to relinquish.[2][3] The tension between service to Israel and life under an assumed identity is a central element of the drama.[3]

Eli Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1924 to Syrian-born parents and remained in Egypt until 1956.[1] Israel recruited him in 1960, drawing on his Arabic fluency, familiarity with Egypt, and connections to Syria.[1] In 1961, he traveled to Buenos Aires under the assumed identity Kamel Amin Thaabet, presenting himself as a Syrian expatriate businessman and establishing connections within the Syrian community.[1] He moved to Syria in 1962, cultivated relationships among the country’s elite, and transmitted intelligence to Israel.[1][5]

In Damascus, Cohen hosted elaborate parties at which he gathered information from his guests.[1] He communicated with Israel through radio transmissions and hidden letters, and also made secret visits home to see his wife and three children.[1] His access extended to Syrian fortifications in the Golan Heights, whose locations he conveyed to the Israeli military.[1] That intelligence proved crucial during the Six-Day War, and his work also helped disrupt Syrian plans to cut off a source of the Jordan River.[1]

Syrian forces located Cohen during a transmission to Israel on January 24, 1965, using Soviet-supplied radio-tracking equipment.[1] He was sentenced to death on March 31 and hanged in Damascus on May 18, 1965, despite appeals from his wife, diplomats, foreign officials, and Pope Paul VI.[1] Syria has not returned his remains to Israel.[1]

Gideon Raff wrote and directed the miniseries after becoming known for the Hebrew-language series Hatufim, or Prisoners of War, and its American adaptation, Homeland.[3][2] He initially conceived The Spy as a two-hour feature film but concluded that the material could not be accommodated within that running time.[4] The project ultimately became six hour-long Netflix episodes.[2]

Raff identified the contrast between Cohen’s Israeli and Syrian personalities as a particular attraction of the story.[4] People who knew Cohen in Israel described him as shy and reserved, whereas those who knew him in Syria remembered an outgoing man.[4] Raff wanted to explore what qualities had enabled Cohen to rise so high in Syrian society and how those apparently different personalities could belong to the same person.[4]

Sacha Baron Cohen was Raff’s first choice for the lead role, although the actor initially declined it.[6] At a later encounter in a Los Angeles restaurant, Baron Cohen asked who had been cast, prompting Raff to answer, “If you still want it, it’s yours!”[6] Raff also explained that he had seen comedians succeed in dramatic roles and was encouraged by Baron Cohen’s interest in the project.[4] The actor had grown up hearing stories about Eli Cohen and immersed himself in the character’s two identities.[4] His preparation included work on Egyptian and Syrian Arabic dialects; he also spoke fluent Hebrew.[6]

The production used English rather than Hebrew and Arabic as a practical means of reaching a broad audience.[4] Raff estimated that teaching the entire cast the necessary languages and dialects would have required a year-long interruption, and said the English-language approach also made performance easier for actors otherwise working outside their own languages.[4] Although the production wanted to film the Israeli scenes in Israel, it went to Morocco because contemporary Tel Aviv no longer resembled Israel in the 1960s.[4]

Noah Emmerich plays Dan Peleg, Cohen’s Mossad handler, while Hadar Ratzon-Rotem plays Nadia Cohen.[7] Other credited performers include Waleed Zuaiter as Colonel Amin al-Hafiz, Yael Eitan as Maya, Nassim Si Ahmed as Matzi, Uri Gabriel as Sheikh Majid al-Arad, Youssef Sweid as George Saif, and Maria Zreik as Salikha.[7] Alexander Siddig appears as a Sudanese character, and the announced Israeli cast also included Amos Tamam and Uri Pfeffer.[7][2]

The narrative opens with Cohen’s execution in 1965 before returning five years to his recruitment, his dispatch to Argentina as a Syrian businessman, and his subsequent move to Damascus in 1962.[5] It follows his growing prominence in the city’s social and business circles and his relationships with senior government figures.[5] The series depicts Syrian president Amin al-Hafiz reportedly offering him the position of deputy defense minister.[8]

A framing scene presents Cohen writing a letter to his family before his execution, then freezing when asked to sign it.[5] A rabbi asks him, “You don’t remember your name?”[5] The scene connects the approach of his death with the drama’s recurring concern about the psychological strain of inhabiting an assumed identity.[5] Promotional material similarly foregrounded the personal cost of his undercover work, including deception directed at people close to him.[2]

The family story places Nadia’s experience alongside Cohen’s mission rather than treating the operation solely as a sequence of intelligence successes.[4] Raff explained that the timing of a daughter’s birth was adjusted to make Cohen’s choice between remaining at home and serving the state more immediate.[4] He described the production as a drama inspired by a true story and acknowledged that some transitions were changed to serve its narrative.[4]

Baron Cohen’s casting placed an actor widely associated with comedy in the role of an Israeli intelligence operative facing the demands of a double life.[4] His performance received praise even from members of Cohen’s family who objected to aspects of the adaptation.[4] Sophie Ben-Dor, Cohen’s daughter, also considered the exposure afforded by Netflix’s reach an important benefit of the series.[4]

Critical responses were mixed.[9][7] Globes called the production impressive but criticized its conventional, predictable approach, the artificial presentation of scenes in Israel, and the limited development of Cohen’s psychology; it also said the series improved after its first two episodes.[9] EDB reproduced contrasting verdicts, including one that called the six hours an interesting and entertaining thriller and another that criticized the script as predictable and reliant on spy-series clichés.[7] Calcalist likewise criticized the six-episode pacing for failing to explain Cohen’s personality and transformation fully.[5]

One review interpreted Cohen’s story as both a major triumph and a tragedy of Israeli intelligence.[10] It argued that the story exposed an ethnic irony: Arabic-speaking Jews could be valued for their usefulness in espionage while experiencing marginalization in ordinary Israeli life.[10]

Cohen’s family publicly challenged several dramatized elements of the series.[4][11] Sophie Ben-Dor objected to the portrayal of her mother as a maid, describing some departures from the family’s experience as painful, while also expressing respect for artistic license and praising Baron Cohen’s performance.[4] Nadia Cohen denied having worked as a seamstress for an Israeli socialite and rejected a storyline in which a Mossad handler pursued a romance with her.[11] She nevertheless credited Baron Cohen’s effort and hoped the series would renew interest in recovering her husband’s remains.[11]

Raff acknowledged that historical events had been altered for dramatic purposes rather than presented as a documentary reconstruction.[4] The adaptation also drew criticism for presenting mainly the Israeli account and for its treatment of Cohen’s relationship with Amin al-Hafiz, including a disputed connection in Argentina.[12]