Israel retrieves watch from spy hanged Eli Cohen from Syria

A watch belonging to one of the most famous Israeli spies captured and hanged in Syria was recovered by his Mossad intelligence agency.

Eli Cohen, a Jew of Egyptian descent recruited by the Mossad in the early 1960s, who infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian regime.

He provided Israel with Syrian state secrets, before he was discovered and publicly hanged in Damascus in 1965.

Syria refused to reveal where he was.

The recovery of Cohen's custody was announced by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister

Details of when or how Israel seized the watch were not disclosed except that 39, he was sent back "in a special operation of the Mossad". The director of Mossad, Yossi Cohen, said the watch was worn by Eli Cohen until the day of his capture

"The watch was part of Eli Cohen's operational image and was part of its manufactured Arab identity. "

] Hide like Kamal Amin Taabet, a fictitious Syrian businessman, Eli Cohen made several trips to Syria from 1962. He befriends influential political, commercial and military personalities and becomes more and more reliable.

The mystique of his story is such that it is often reported that he was even considered for the post of Syrian Deputy Defense Minister, although that did not happen. been supported by evidence.

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Israel Press Office

Cohen was able to obtain secret information that he has transmitted to Israel. The details he gave Syrian troops on the Golan Heights would have played an important role in helping Israel defeat Syria in the Middle East war in 1967.

He was unmasked by agents of the Syrian security in 1964, tortured and sentenced to death. military trial. Cohen was hanged on a public square in Damascus the following year

Israel repeatedly asked for the repatriation of its remains but Syria refused.

Commenting on the recovery of the watch, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: "I congratulate the Mossad fighters for the determined and courageous operation, whose sole purpose was to restore Israel's memory of a great fighter who has greatly contributed to the security of the state. "

The watch was given to the widow of Cohen, Nadia, at a private ceremony in May

"By the time they informed me [of the watch’s recovery] my mouth was coming up. is dry and I've had the shivers, "she told Israeli television

. I felt that I could feel his hand, I felt that part of him was with us. "