Sacha Baron Cohen lands Golden Globe nomination for portraying Israeli spy

Jewish actor Sacha Baron Cohen lands a Golden Globe nomination for best actor in a limited series or TV movie for portraying Israeli spy Eli Cohen in Netflix series “The Spy.”

The English actor tweets his thanks, including to the show’s “visionary” Israeli writer and producer Gideon Raff, and says he shares the recognition with Eli Cohen’s family.

I am hugely proud of The Spy and thrilled that it has been seen and embraced by audiences around the globe. I share this recognition with Eli Cohen’s family and everyone who worked on The Spy.

— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) December 9, 2019

Eli Cohen, who spied for Israel in Syria during the 1960s, provided valuable intelligence that was said to have greatly assisted the Israeli military in the 1967 Six Day War. Cohen was caught and eventually executed by Syrian authorities in 1965. Israel has worked to retrieve his remains for decades.