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Still waiting for his return

Eli Cohen’s widow: Al-Julani didn’t return her husband's legacy, Mossad did

Nadia Cohen, now in her late 80s, says attempts to frame the return of her husband’s belongings as Syrian generosity are false, stressing her belief in Mossad’s quiet heroism.

Nadia Cohen with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad head Barnea

Nadia Cohen, the widow of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, refuted this morning (Wednesday) the claim in a Reuters report that her husband's documents and belongings were offered to Israel as a gesture by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (Abu Muhammad al-Julani) to ease tensions between the countries.

"I trust the Mossad," the widow told Ynet after the intelligence agency announced earlier this week that it had obtained about 2,500 documents, photos, and personal items of the fighter whose body has been in Syria since his execution.

In the Mossad's statement about finding the documents and bringing them to the widow in a symbolically timed manner ahead of the 60th anniversary of the execution of the organization's fighter, it was noted that among the findings was the original will document that Eli Cohen wrote hours before he was hanged to death. In the Reuters news agency, it was asserted that the new Syrian president offered the spy's archive to Israel to gain the trust of U.S. President Donald Trump.

One of Eli Cohen's notebooks
One of Eli Cohen's notebooks (Photo: Mossad, GPO)
Eli Cohen and document found by Mossad
Eli Cohen and document found by Mossad (Photo: Mossad, GPO)

I was invited to the Knesset on Sunday along with the head of the Mossad and the Prime Minister, there were photographers there, and I didn’t know what I was going to see and hear,” Nadia Cohen recounted about the meeting where items brought to the country by the Mossad were presented to her.

“Dedi (Mossad head Dedi Barnea) told me beforehand, "I will show you something small," and I was surprised and asked the one accompanying me on behalf of the Mossad: "How can it be that the media hasn’t approached us?" The widow also said: "I expected a ring, the ring that was on his finger. I dream that it will be with me. Dedi didn’t take out a ring, and I was very tense.

There was a long table full of documents, and there were several items on the table. I sat next to the Prime Minister, and he said: "This is a gift we captured in Syria." I couldn’t believe it, I was really moved, I was in shock inside my body.'Cohen added: "They said they found the documents inside a deep tunnel, in huge safes. How did it get there? Why did they put it there specifically? And why did they even keep them? I was in shock. I was told this is only half a percent of what the Mossad found inside the tunnels - 2,500 documents in 16 binders. I want the body, I want Eli. I hope that before I die, before I close my eyes, Eli will have a grave here."
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