Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has successfully recovered a cache of documents and personal items belonging to Eli Cohen, the Israeli spy executed by Syria in 1965. The collection, which includes 2,500 documents, photographs, and personal effects, was returned to Israel following a covert operation carried out in collaboration with an allied foreign intelligence service, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Sunday.
Cohen, a Mossad agent, infiltrated Syria’s political and military circles in the 1960s by posing as a Syrian businessman returning from South America. His intelligence contributions were pivotal, but in 1965, he was captured, tried, and sentenced to death. He was hanged in Damascus on May 18, 1965.
The recovered items include family photographs, letters, his will, the key to his Damascus apartment, and reports sent to his Israeli handlers. Additionally, the original death sentence issued by the Syrian court was among the documents retrieved. Some personal belongings have been presented to Cohen’s widow, Nadia.
A Syrian government spokesperson did not immediately comment on how the items were removed from Damascus, particularly in light of recent political changes following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in 2024. Despite ongoing tensions between Syria and Israel, including Israeli airstrikes on Syrian targets, Damascus has signaled a willingness to engage in peace talks.
In related news, Israel recently recovered the body of a soldier, Zvi Feldman, who was killed in 1982 during a battle with Syrian forces in Lebanon.
