Killing of Baruch Cohen
# Killing of Baruch Cohen

Baruch Cohen (1936, Haifa, Mandatory Palestine-January 23, 1973, Madrid, Spain) was an Israel intelligence officer. As the Mossad's Director of Operations against Palestinians in Europe, Cohen was assassinated in Madrid in 1973 by a Palestinian contact.

## Biography

Cohen was born in 1936 in Haifa, then in Mandatory Palestine. At the age of 16, he joined Kibbutz Ein Harod, and then the Nahal in 1953.

In 1959, he joined the Israeli government, working in the [[Israeli Foreign Ministry" and intelligence services. From July 1970 to December 1972, he worked at the Israel embassy in Brussels.

Cohen led the investigation that uncovered a Syrian-directed Jewish-Arab spy ring in Israel. Cohen interrogated Daud Turki, a Palestinian-Israel anti-Zionist politician and the spy ring's alleged leader. Cohen's role was revealed 2 months after his death, when Turki’s statements and confession during his interrogation were read during the trial of Turki and five co-defendants in March 1973.

## Assassination

On January 23, 1973, Cohen, was shot and killed by a young Palestinian contact in a cafe in Madrid. Cohen was an Arabic speaker on loan to the Mossad from the Shin Bet internal security service.

News reports originally identified Cohen as a tourist named Moshe Hannan Yishai, his undercover identity. After his body had been flown back to Israel for burial, Israeli authorities revealed his true name and government affiliation.

Mossad then conducted a side operation, as part of Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre, to locate and kill Cohen's assassins, and at least three Palestinians involved in planning and carrying out Cohen's killing were assassinated.

