The widow of hanged spy Eli Cohen on Sunday openly criticized Israeli governments for “not doing a thing” to compel Syria to release the remains of her husband for burial in Israel 44 years after he was executed.
She explained that unlike the families of captive and missing soldiers, she lacks the means to launch major public campaigns to assist in her plight, and as a result, 44 years have passed and her husband is still buried in Syria.
Mrs. Cohen spoke of her pain, the years of yearning to bring the body home, of her three children who never knew their father. She added when Pope Benedict XVI was here last week, he met with the family of Gilad Shalit, expressing her pain over the young soldier’s plight, but the pope did not meet with her.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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3 Responses
So sad! May Hashem comfort this almana, bring all Jews to a peaceful rest, and may we merit Techias Ha-meisim soon.
It is a shame indeed. But that’s what you get when you choose to work for them. I’m sure Eli Cohen knew what risk he was taking when he volunteered as a spy for the Mossad.
Of course everything should be done to bring his remains in for a proper kevurah.
Eli Cohen was a hero.
The info he provided to Israel was of tremendous strategic value, especially in allowing the Syrian positions to be located and quickly destroyed in the six-day-war.
The sacrifices he made included spending years away from his young family, far from the comforts of home, under deep cover high in the Syrian government.
He overcame the gut-clenching fear of mingling with Israel’s mortal enemies and passing along detailed reports for years, all the while knowing that he could be discovered and killed at any moment.
Who knows how many lives were saved by the info he provided?
If there is any way for his body to be recovered for burial in Israel, we owe him that much.
Yehi zichroi boruch.