Israel Retrieves Eli Cohen’s Archive From Syrian Intelligence, Netanyahu Shares Items With Widow

Israel retrieved thousands of items belonging to Eli Cohen after a covert operation in Syria, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of the materials with Cohen’s widow in Jerusalem on Sunday, marking 60 years since Cohen was hanged in a square in Damascus.

“Reuters, on Tuesday, quoted three sources saying that the Syrian leadership agreed to hand over documents and belongings of Mossad agent Eli Cohen to Tel Aviv”

Al-Jazeera Net

Netanyahu said Israel “conducted a special operation by the Mossad, by the State of Israel, to bring his (Eli Cohen's) archive, which had been in the safes of the Syrian intelligence for 60 years,” according to CBS News.

Al-Jazeera Net

The items recently brought into Israel included “documents, recordings, photos, and items collected by Syrian intelligence after his capture in January 1965,” as CBS News reported.

CBS News also said the archive included “letters in his own handwriting to his family in Israel,” “photographs of his activity during his operational mission in Syria,” and “personal objects that were taken from his home after his capture.”

Among the recovered materials, CBS News reported that AFP said there was “a handwritten will penned by Cohen hours before his execution.”

The CBS News account also described the contents of suitcases brought to Israel, including “worn folders stuffed with handwritten notes,” “keys to his apartment in Damascus,” “passports and false identification documents,” and “documentation of all the efforts of his widow, Nadia Cohen, begging world leaders for his release from prison.”

While CBS News described Israel’s retrieval as a covert operation carried out by Mossad with “a partner intelligence agency,” other reporting framed the handover as a decision by Syrian leadership intended to ease tensions.

Israel National News said Syria returned Cohen’s personal belongings “in what Reuters described as a calculated move to signal goodwill toward then-U.S. PresidentDonald Trump and pave the way for potential diplomatic calm with Israel,” citing a Syrian security source.

CBS News

That report said “the decision was approved at the highest levels of the Syrian leadership” and that the move was intended “to build trust with the Trump administration and to subtly signal an interest in easing tensions with Israel.”

Al-Jazeera Net, also citing Reuters, said “the Syrian leadership has agreed to hand over Kohen's belongings to Israel,” and it quoted Reuters describing “three sources” saying the Syrian leadership agreed to hand over “documents and belongings of Mossad agent Eli Cohen to Tel Aviv.”

Al-Jazeera Net added that Reuters said the archive was presented to Israel “in an indirect Syrian initiative to ease tensions and build trust with U.S. President Donald Trump.”

The Al-Sharq Al-Awsat report similarly quoted Netanyahu’s office saying, “In a complex secret operation carried out by Mossad in cooperation with a partner intelligence agency, the official Syrian archive of Eli Cohen was brought to Israel,” and it described the archive as containing “thousands of materials that Syrian intelligence had kept for decades under tight guard.”

The recovered archive is tied to Eli Cohen’s long-running infiltration of Syria’s political and military elite in the 1960s, and multiple sources recount how his cover was built and how his case ended.

“In a dramatic and unexpected turn, Syria has returned the personal belongings of legendary Israeli spy Eli Cohen, in what Reuters described as a calculated move to signal goodwill toward then-U”

Israel National News

CBS News said Cohen was sent by Mossad to Syria, where he posed as a Syrian businessman named Kamal Amin Taabet, and it described how he befriended “influential political, business and military figures” to obtain secret information passed back to Israel.

CBS News also said Cohen’s success in Syria was credited with helping Israel prepare for its swift victory in the 1967 Middle East War, and it described him rising to become “a top adviser to Syria's defense minister.”

It further stated that in 1965 Cohen was caught radioing information to Israel, and that he was “tried and hanged in a Damascus square on May 18, 1965.”

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat provided additional biographical detail, saying Cohen was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1924, joined the Zionist Jewish Youth Organization in Egypt, and later worked as a translator and analyst for Israeli military intelligence.

That report said he tried to join Mossad but failed, leading him to resign from military intelligence and work as “an accountant for several private companies in Tel Aviv,” and it said he married Nadia, “an Israeli woman of Iraqi origin named Nadia.”

The sources describe the archive not just as documents but as a collection of personal and operational materials, including items tied to Cohen’s family and to his interrogation.

CBS News said the items included “letters in his own handwriting to his family in Israel,” “photographs of his activity during his operational mission in Syria,” and “personal objects that were taken from his home after his capture.”

Ash-Sharq Al-Awsat

It also said the suitcases included “passports and false identification documents,” “missions from the Mossad to surveil specific people and places,” and “documentation of all the efforts of his widow, Nadia Cohen, begging world leaders for his release from prison.”

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat added that among the documents Israel recovered was “a file bearing the name 'Nadia Cohen' containing details of Syrian security services' surveillance of the campaign led by his wife to demand his release in the 1960s before his execution.”

That report also said the materials moved from Cohen’s home after his arrest included “forged passports and photos of him with senior Syrian military and government officials,” and it mentioned “notebooks for taking notes and diaries detailing Mossad's missions.”

Al-Jazeera Net, meanwhile, described the handover in terms of “documents and belongings,” and it stated that Netanyahu’s office announced “the retrieval of 2,500 documents, photos, and personal belongings,” while Reuters said the Syrian archive was kept by “the Syrian security forces for decades.”

Even as Netanyahu shared parts of the archive, the sources emphasize that Cohen’s remains have not been returned, and they connect the belongings’ transfer to diplomatic calculations and future negotiations.

“Reuters, on Tuesday, quoted three sources saying that the Syrian leadership agreed to hand over documents and belongings of Mossad agent Eli Cohen to Tel Aviv”

Al-Jazeera Net

CBS News said “Ahead of viewing the items, Nadia Cohen told Netanyahu that the most important thing was to bring back Cohen's body,” and it reported that Netanyahu said “Israel was continuing to work on locating Cohen's body.”

Al-Jazeera Net

It also stated that “Cohen's remains have yet to be returned to Israel,” and it added that “his grave has remained secret; it is believed his remains were moved several times to different places,” according to Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat said that in 2019 the Cohen family revealed Mossad attempted “to locate his burial place and move his remains to Israel, but the operation failed,” and it quoted Sophie Cohen saying she learned of the operation from “the audio testimony recorded by her uncle Maurice.”

Israel National News said the return of the belongings was intended to “pave the way for potential diplomatic calm with Israel,” and it described indirect talks between Israel and Syria “mediated by the United Arab Emirates,” adding that “More such backchannel communications are reportedly expected to open in the future.”

Al-Jazeera Net likewise said Reuters described the initiative as designed “to ease tensions and build trust with U.S. President Donald Trump,” and it noted that “The Syrian authorities have not yet commented on the Israeli announcement of bringing Cohen's documents from the archive of the Syrian security forces.”