Mossad Recovers Thousands of Eli Cohen’s Personal Artifacts

In a remarkable intelligence achievement, the Mossad has recovered approximately 2,500 original documents, photographs, and personal items belonging to Israel’s legendary spy, Eli Cohen. These priceless artifacts, unveiled for the first time, offer fresh insight into one of the most extraordinary espionage careers in Israeli history.

Eli Cohen’s name has long stood as a symbol of unmatched courage and cunning. Born in Alexandria to Syrian Jewish parents, his fluency in Arabic, English, and French made him an ideal candidate for intelligence work. After an initial stint in espionage during the mid-1950s, Cohen returned to Israel, where his path would soon change the course of Israeli history.

In 1961, under the alias Kamal Amin Thaabet, Cohen was dispatched to Buenos Aires. From there, he wove a complex web of relationships within the Syrian expatriate community connections that later granted him access to the innermost circles of Syria’s ruling elite.

By 1962, Cohen had successfully embedded himself in Damascus, attending top-level military briefings and gaining the trust of senior government officials, including future Syrian president Amin al-Hafez. At one point, he was even considered for a key defense ministry post.

Through his daring, Cohen provided Israel with invaluable intelligence, especially about Syrian fortifications in the Golan Heights information that significantly bolstered Israel’s strategic advantage in the Six Day War.

But in January 1965, his luck ran out. Tracked through his radio transmissions, Syrian counterintelligence arrested him. Despite being tortured and subjected to a show trial, Cohen remained defiant. In May of that year, he was publicly executed in Damascus. His body has never been returned to Israel, with reports suggesting Syrian authorities have moved it multiple times to prevent repatriation.

Now, decades later, a new chapter unfolds. Among the recovered items are original Mossad directives detailing specific missions, including surveillance of key Syrian military sites. Other pieces include passports, false IDs, keys to his Damascus apartment, and rare photographs of Cohen alongside Syrian officials all testifying to the depth of his infiltration.

Most poignant of all was the return of Cohen’s handwritten will, penned just hours before his execution, presented to his widow Nadia by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea.

“Eli Cohen was a legend,” Netanyahu said during the ceremony. “His heroism and his activity contributed to our historic victory in the Six Day War.”

The recovered artifacts not only honor Cohen’s unparalleled service, they rekindle national pride in the bravery that has helped shape the modern State of Israel.

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