Israel reportedly trying to recover spy’s remains from Syria

ISRAELI OFFICIALS ARE REPORTEDLY trying to recover the remains of Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who was hanged in Syria in 1965, after his espionage activities were discovered. Born in Alexandria in 1924, Cohen was an Egyptian Jew, whose family immigrated to Israel after 1949. After joining the Mossad, Israel’s primary external intelligence agency, Cohen became a katsa, or case officer.

The spy agency utilized Cohen’s fluency in Arabic and Spanish and sent him to Argentina, where he built his intelligence cover under the name Kamel Amin Thaabet. He pretended to be a Syrian businessman whose family had immigrated to Argentina in the 1920s. While in Argentina, Cohen became an active member of the Arab and Syrian diasporas and joined the Syrian Ba’ath Party.

In 1962, shortly before Ba’athist officers seized power in Syria, the Mossad instructed Cohen to relocate to Damascus. While there, Cohen became a well-known socialite with close connections to the administration of Syrian President Amin al-Hafiz. However, in 1965, Cohen’s espionage was uncovered by Syrian counterintelligence, who utilized technical countermeasures provided by Soviet intelligence. Cohen was convicted of espionage and publicly executed by hanging in Damascus on May 18, 1965.

Since Cohen’s execution, the Syrian state has rejected requests to reveal the location of his tomb and the whereabouts of his remains. On at least two instances, Israel, which views Cohen as a national hero, has offered to exchange Syrian and other Arab prisoners of war in return for the spy’s remains, but Damascus has rebuffed these offers. There are rumors that Syrian authorities regularly relocate Cohen’s remains so as to prevent Israel from covertly retrieving them.

According to reports from Middle Eastern media, since the fall of the administration of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Israeli officials have been in negotiations to gain access to Cohen’s remains. The negotiations are allegedly taking place between Israeli government representatives and former members of the Assad regime, who have knowledge of the whereabouts of the late spy’s remains. In a television interview last week, Eli Cohen’s widow, Nadia, implied that Mossad Director David Barnea is personally involved in the ongoing negotiations.

► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date:16 December 2024 | Permalink