Israel intensifies efforts to retrieve body of spy Eli Cohen from Syria
Widow of executed spy remains pessimistic – 'Every time there are developments with Syria and there is hope, disappointments follow'
Israel has made contact with Syrian and foreign officials in a renewed effort to locate and repatriate the remains of spy Eli Cohen, according to the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday. This confirms an earlier report by i24NEWS after the fall of the Assad regime.
Cohen, who had infiltrated Syria under the identity of Kamel Amin Thaabet, a supposed businessman from a Syrian family that had emigrated to Latin America, had managed to weave an impressive network of influence, establishing relationships with the highest Syrian political and military officials before being unmasked. He was executed in Marjeh square, in the center of Damascus, on May 18, 1965. Since then, Syrian authorities have always kept the location of his tomb secret, rejecting all mediation attempts proposing exchanges with Arab prisoners.
Israel is also reportedly seeking to establish contacts with groups that collaborated with Palestinian factions to find the body of one of three soldiers who disappeared during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the Bekaa during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. This battle, which pitted Syrian and Israeli forces against each other on June 10, 1982, remains a painful chapter of history for Israelis after the bodies were taken. Two years ago, Russia allowed the return of the bodies of two of these soldiers as part of an agreement.
This double Israeli approach is part of Israel's policy to make every effort to repatriate its soldiers and agents, alive or dead.
After Cohen's execution by hanging, the assumption is that the burial site has changed several times, and that he was buried in different points over the years in an effort to thwart Israeli efforts to locate his final resting place. Sources in Israel believe that finding him depends on reaching the Assad family or those close to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Nadia Cohen, widow of Eli, referred to the publication and said in an interview with Miri Michaeli on the i24NEWS Hebrew channel's central edition.
"We have begun the 60th year that Eli is buried in Syria, I lived my life alone and I think I will also remain alone after," she said.
"Every time there are developments with Syria and there is hope, disappointments follow," she said.
"Dedi Barnea cautioned me that they might not find the body," she concluded, referring to Mossad chief David Barnea.