Tel Aviv [Israel], May 19 : Documents and personal items belonging to famed Israeli spy Eli Cohen have been brought back to Israel from Syria to mark the 60th anniversary of his public execution in Damascus, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office has said.
The Prime Minister's Office on Sunday said that in a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service, the official Syrian archive on Eli Cohen, which had thousands of findings that were held for decades by the Syrian security forces in a highly compartmentalized manner, were brought to Israel.
The PMO said that the special archive includes approximately 2,500 original documents, photographs and personal items, most of which have been revealed for the first time.
The material was brought to Israel close to the emotional and symbolic 60th anniversary of his execution on 18 May 1965, in a main square in Damascus.
As per a report in the Times of Isreal, Cohen who was born in Egypt to a Jewish family, joined the Mossad in the early 1960s and infiltrated the top echelons of Syria's political leadership under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet. The intelligence he obtained over four years was credited with playing a key role in Israel's stunning success in the 1967 Six Day War, particularly in the capture of the Golan Heights.
Cohen was tried and executed by the Syrian government for espionage on May 18, 1965, and the Times of Israel report said that his body has never been recovered, despite repeated efforts over the years by successive Israeli governments and the Mossad.
During a meeting between Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea, several original documents and personal items that were located in Syria, were presented to Eli Cohen's widow, Nadia.
As per the PMO, these included the original will written by Eli Cohen himself, hours before his execution, only a copy of which had been shown openly up until now.
It was noted that the material was collected by Syrian intelligence after his capture in January 1965 and includes recordings and documentation from the files on Eli Cohen's investigation and on those with whom he had been in contact, letters in his own handwriting to his family in Israel, photographs of his activity during his operational mission in Syria and personal objects that were taken from his home after his capture.
"Among his personal effects were found the keys to his apartment in Damascus, passports and false documentation he had used, and many photographs from the period of his covert activity in Syria, including documentation of Eli Cohen with senior Syrian government and military officials, Among the many records that were found in the registries and diaries that were collected from his home by Syrian intelligence were also found - inter alia - the missions he had received from the Mossad and which were to be carried out covertly, including a request to surveil a target and a mission to gather intelligence on Syrian military bases in Quneitra", the PMO said.
Signficantly, the original sentence and the decision to execute Cohen was also found among the many documents recovered.
"In this document, the court determined that the head of the Jewish community in Damascus, Rabbi Nissim Indibo, of blessed memory, was to be allowed to minister to Eli Cohen according to Jewish tradition", the PMO said.
The PMO shed light that a file titled 'Nadia Cohen' was also recovered, which revealed that the Syrian intelligence service reviewed all of Mrs. Cohen's efforts to secure her husband's release from Syrian prison, including the many letters she sent to world leaders and the President of Syria calling for his release.
PM Netanyahu called Eli Cohen a legend and the 'greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state'.
Stating that his heroirsm contributed to Israel's victory in the Six Day War, PM Netanyahu saidt that the Eli Cohen archive would educate generations, and is a testament of Israel to bring back home all of our missing, captives and hostages."
Mossad's Director Barnea said that bringing back of the archives is a step towards advancing the investigation to locate the place his burial in Damascus. "This important mission stands before us and we are committed to continue and do our utmost to realize it. We will continue to act to locate and return all of our missing, fallen and hostages - the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for eternal rest after a proper Jewish burial", he said.
The details were also shared in a post on X.
https://x.com/IsraeliPM/status/1924129145493078301
Eli Cohen was an agent of Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, who played a crucial role in the Six Day war.
Times of Israel reported that Cohen, who was born in Egypt to a Jewish family, joined the Mossad in the early 1960s and infiltrated the top echelons of Syria's political leadership under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet.
As per the Times of Israel, the intelligence he obtained over a period of four years played a crucial role in in Israel's success in the 1967 Six Day War, particularly in the capture of the Golan Heights.
He was tried and executed by the Syrian government for espionage on May 18, 1965. Efforts have been underway to find his mortal remains.
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