Venerated Israeli spy Eli Cohen. Photo: JNS.org.

i24 News – Some 2,500 documents, photos, and belongings of executed spy Eli Cohen were retrieved from Syria in a special Mossad operation, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday.

The trove was recovered due to a secret, complex operation in cooperation with the official Syrian archive, which held thousands of classified items ever since his capture and subsequent execution in Damascus’s al-Marjeh Square in 1965.

The items included the keys to his Damascus apartment, forged passports, and photos he took during his espionage, particularly of senior Syrian officials. He also left behind notebooks and diaries that were seized by Syria’s intelligence service.

The announcement came 60 years to the day after his execution, with the items presented in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad Director David Barnea, and the widow of the late Eli Cohen, Mrs. Nadia Cohen. Included was Cohen’s will, which he wrote hours before his execution, and of which only a copy has been publicly revealed so far.

“Eli Cohen is a legend. In the test of time, he is revealed as the greatest intelligence agent in the history of the state, whose heroism and activity contributed to the historic victory in the Six-Day War,” Netanyahu said. “The Eli Cohen archive, which was brought with special effort, will educate generations, and expresses our tireless commitment to returning all of our missing persons, prisoners of war and abductees to our country.”

“Bringing the archive is a significant achievement of the highest ethical and moral value, and another step in advancing the investigation to locate the burial place of our man in Damascus,” said Barnea. “This important mission is before our eyes, and we are committed to continuing to do everything we can to realize it. “We will continue to work to locate and return all the missing, the fallen, and the kidnapped – the living for rehabilitation and the fallen for eternal rest in the tomb of Israel.”

This comes after Israel worked for decades to locate every piece of evidence relating to Cohen, aimed at discovering his fate after his execution and his grave. Included in the archive is the orginal sentencing for his execution, which stated that the court allowed the Damascus Jewish community religious leader, Rabbi Nissim Andabu, to accompany Cohen in accordance with Jewish tradition ahead of his execution.

Syrian intelligence also compiled a large file labeled “Nadia Cohen,” which collected his widow’s efforts to secure his release from prison, including letters to world leaders and the Syrian president.