Report: Syrian opposition to return body of famed Israeli spy

Day after video sets off stir, Lebanese media group says rebel group is willing to hand over remains of Eli Cohen, executed in 1965

A Syrian rebel group reportedly declared it is prepared to hand over to Israel the body of Eli Cohen, a spy who was publicly executed by Syria in 1965, days after the broadcast of rare footage of his hanging sparked new interest in the case in Israel.

The Wednesday report by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation did not identify which of the various opposition militias had made the announcement or when the remains of Cohen, among the country’s most celebrated heroes, might be returned.

Over the course of a five-year civil war Syria has become divided into a patchwork of territories controlled by competing and aligned factions.

Cohen, a Mossad agent, was put on trial and executed for espionage after he successfully infiltrated the highest echelons of the Syrian government under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet for four years.

The intelligence conveyed to Israel during that period was credited by then-prime minister Levi Eshkol with greatly assisting Israel’s victory during the Six Day War.

A defense official told Channel 2 that Israeli officials had not been contacted and had no knowledge at all about the matter.

Nadia Cohen, Eli Cohen’s widow, told the Hebrew-language Walla News website that she had not been contacted by any Israeli officials about the possibility.

“It doesn’t seem believable to me, it is as though they want to play with our emotions and continue to torture us,” she said. “If they return Eli’s bones for burial in Israel — it will be a miracle. I pray that I will get a sign that there is some truth in it.”

Nadia Cohen, widow of executed Israeli spy Eli Cohen, speaks to Channel 2 on September 20, 2016 after Syrian opposition forces release new video showing moments after he was hanged in Damascus public square. Screenshot/Channel 2)

Earlier this week a two-minute video was posted on Syrian opposition forces’ social media accounts purportedly showing the aftermath of Cohen’s execution in Damascus.

The black-and-white footage shows what appears to be Cohen’s body being lowered into a coffin after he was hanged in a public square in Damascus over 51 years ago, on May 18, 1965.

His remains were not retrieved by Israel and the regime in Syria has claimed it does not know where he is buried.

Despite the fact that the video is not new, and is included in the archives of The Associated Press, the re-publication set off a stir in Israel.

Nadia Cohen said she had never seen the footage and told Channel 2 watching the video “was difficult” and that it “took me back [to those days].”