60 years after his execution: Israel recovers Syrian archive of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen in secret Mossad operation

Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad has recovered the official Syrian intelligence archive on Israeli spy Eli Cohen in a covert operation, the agency and the Prime Minister’s Office announced in a joint statement on Sunday.

The archive includes some 2,500 original documents, photographs and personal items which were recently recovered as part of a decades-long effort to shed light on the fate and place of burial of the legendary spy.

In the early 60s, Cohen infiltrated the top levels of Syria’s political leadership by posing as a wealthy patriotic Arab businessman, developing close relationships with both political and military leaders.

After his discovery and arrest, Cohen was tried by a military tribunal and was eventually executed on May 18, 1965. His body was never returned to Israel.  

This Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea presented Cohen’s widow, Nadio, with several original documents and personal items, including the original will written by Cohen himself only hours before his execution, of which only a copy had been known.

The archive was recovered in a “covert and complex” operation, “in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service,” according to the statement. It held “thousands of findings that were held for decades by the Syrian security forces in a highly compartmentalized manner.”

“Eli Cohen was a legend. In the test of time, he has been revealed as the greatest intelligence agent in the annals of the state; his heroism and his activity contributed to our historic victory in the Six Day War,” Netanyahu said.

“The Eli Cohen archive, which was brought in a special effort, will educate generations, and expresses the unwavering commitment to bring back home all of our missing, captives and hostages.”

The items were collected by Syrian intelligence after Cohen’s capture in January 1965 and include recordings from investigations of him and his contacts, letters sent to his family in Israel, photographs of his spy activities in Syria and personal objects taken from his Damascus home after his capture.

The Mossad managed to recover the keys to Cohen’s apartment, various passports and documentation used to fake his identity, and many photographs of Eli Cohen with senior Syrian government and military officials.

The intelligence agency also found documentation of the espionage missions Cohen was given by the Mossad, including a request to surveil a target and a mission to gather intelligence on Syrian military bases in Quneitra, a town on the Israeli border.

Other documents included the original execution sentence which indicated that the head of the Jewish community in Damascus, Rabbi Nissim Indibo was to be allowed to minister to Eli Cohen according to Jewish tradition before his death.

The Syrian intelligence service also maintained a file on Nadia Cohen, following her efforts to secure her husband’s release from prison before he was killed, including many letters sent to world leaders and the President of Syria.

“Over the years, the Mossad has worked together with partners in the intelligence and security communities in Israel and around the world, and has carried out dozens of actions and operations, including in enemy countries,” according to the statement.

After the fall of the Assad regime in December, Israel intensified its efforts to locate the burial sites of several soldiers who went missing in Syria over the decades-long rule of the regime.

Earlier this month, the Mossad recovered the remains of IDF soldier Tzvi Feldman, missing since the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the First Lebanon War, from Syria.

Mossad Director Barnea stated: “Bringing the archive here is an achievement of the highest moral order and is an additional step in advancing the investigation to locate the place of burial of our man 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.”