Trailer Released for Sacha Baron Cohen’s New Netflix Series on Israeli Spy Eli Cohen
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Netflix released the official trailer on Wednesday for its new miniseries “The Spy” starring Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen as Mossad agent Eli Cohen.
The series is based on the true story of the Israeli spy, and focuses on his double life taking a toll on him mentally and with his family.
Cohen became an Israeli counterintelligence analyst after moving to Israel from Egypt. He spent two years as a filing clerk in Tel Aviv before being selected by the Mossad to infiltrate the Syrian government in the 1960s, a year after Adolf Eichmann was captured. He did six months of intensive Mossad training and was given a fake identity as a wealthy Syrian businessman named Kamel Amin Thaabet. The Syrian government discovered his double-agent status and, despite pleas for clemency, he was publicly hanged in Damascus in May 1965.
The six-episode miniseries is from Israeli director Gideon Raff, who also created the Israeli series “Prisoners of War,” which served as the inspiration for Showtime‘s “Homeland.”
“The Spy” will start streaming on Netflix on Sept. 6.
Watch the trailer below: