Who is Eli Cohen? Israel recovers 2,500 items of spy 60 years after his execution in Syria

Sixty years after his execution in public in Damascus, Israel has retrieved thousands of items belonging to its spy, Eli Cohen. Coinciding with the anniversary of Cohen’s hanging in 1965, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, May 18, shared some 2,500 items belonging to him.The Prime Minister’s Office announced that the official Syrian archive on Cohen, which contained thousands of findings held for decades by Syrian security forces, was brought to Israel through a covert and complex Mossad operation in collaboration with an allied foreign intelligence service, ANI reported.
The special archive includes about 2,500 original documents, photographs, his passport, recordings and numerous personal items. At a meeting between Netanyahu and Mossad Director David Barnea, several original documents and personal items were presented to Eli Cohen’s widow, Nadia.

In a covert and complex Mossad operation, in cooperation with an allied foreign intelligence service, the official Syrian archive on Eli Cohen with thousands of findings that were held for decades by the Syrian security forces have been brought to Israel pic.twitter.com/F8mG3QNlY8

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 18, 2025

“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.

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

“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. pic.twitter.com/JyksuHjqiz— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 18, 2025

Who was Eli Cohen?

Born in Egypt in 1924 to a Jewish family, Eli Cohen was an intelligence operative for Israel. During the 1960s, he carried out a deep-infiltration mission in Syria. He was expelled from the country after the 1956 War, when Israel conquered Sinai. According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Cohen eventually immigrated to Israel in 1957.

In the early 1960s, he joined the Mossad and infiltrated the top echelons of Syria’s political leadership under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet, who was born in Beirut. Chaim Herzog, chief of military intelligence who subsequently became Israel’s president, signed the document authorising Cohen’s use as a spy in early 1961.

Cohen gave important intelligence to Israel, including information on military locations, troop movements and even future attack plans.

His most recognised contribution to Israeli intelligence was the information about Syrian military defences on the Golan Heights. He played an important role during the 1967 Six-Day War. He was caught while radioing a call to Tel Aviv and executed by the Syrian government for espionage on May 18, 1965.