Baruch Cohen

Baruch Cohen (; 17 January 1936 – 23 January 1973) was an Israeli intelligence officer in the Shin Bet and katsa in the Mossad. Cohen was assassinated by the Palestinian militant group Black September Organization in Madrid in 1973 after meeting with one of his Palestinian informants, who was a double agent.

Early life Baruch Cohen was born on 17 January 1936, in Haifa, then in Mandatory Palestine. The Cohen family had lived in Haifa for five generations. Cohen was the son of Chaim and Victoria and had 5 brothers. Three of his brothers were members of the Hagana and had been arrested and imprisoned by the British Army. One brother was killed in the Battle of Rafah during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Baruch spoke Arabic with his parents and felt at ease in an Arab home. At the age of 16, he joined Kibbutz Ein Harod, and then the Nahal in 1953, where he completed officers and combat sergeants courses.

Government career Cohen completed his mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 1958, then joined the Shin Bet security service as a case officer in 1959.

By the early 1970s, there were an estimated 6,000 Palestinians in West Germany, many of whom students who were involved in Palestinian militant groups like Fatah and the Black September Organization. In 1970, Cohen's charisma and deep knowledge of Palestinians led to the Tzomet Division of the Mossad to request his secondment Cohen moved with his wife and four children to Brussels, While some in the media believed the operation was retaliation for Israel's Operation Wrath of God, Cohen's assassination was planned months in advance.

More than 10 years later, Mossad reportedly found Samir in Tunis; however, the Mossad director did not authorize his assassination, purportedly for fear of losing another Mossad officer.

Personal Cohen met his wife Nurit when they were both instructors in the Nahal. They married in 1956 and lived in Re'im near the Gaza Strip. The couple had four children. Cohen is buried in the military cemetery in Haifa.