Coded message about Israeli spy provides signs of hope in Syria

A few weeks ago, Nadia Cohen, the widow of Israel’s Mossad most renowned spy, Eli Cohen, who was caught and hanged in Damascus 60 years ago, received an emotional call. She was invited to receive the last letter her husband wrote to her before his execution.

This sensitive personal item, together with thousands of other documents related to the Syrian security forces’ handling of his case, arrived in Israel in what was described by the Mossad as a “covert and complex operation in cooperation with a strategic partner service”.

Media reports quoted multiple sources exposing that the archive was delivered to Israel with the blessing of the new Syrian president Ahmed Al-Sharaa and hinted at the involvement of the Turkish and/or Saudi intelligence services in it.

The fact that the documents were exposed just few days after the meeting between President Trump and his Syrian counterpart Al-Sharaa, during Trump’s visit in Saudi Arabi, is seen by many as another indication that Al-Sharaa was leveraging the sensitive documents as a confidence-building measure towards Washington.

This unexpected development represents the tectonic changes happening in Syria. Since the toppling of the Assad regime last December, Al-Sharaa is running a months-long campaign aimed at gaining international legitimacy and easing Israel’s fear from Syria becoming a major military threat.

From Israel’s point of view, the rise to power of Al-Sharaa triggered reasonable suspicion. After all, the man was known for years under the nom de guerre of Al- Jolani, a wanted Al-Qaida commander with a $US10 million bounty due to his part in the uprising against the American presence in Iraq.

As part of this Israel “low risk” policy, immediately after the Assad regime was toppled, the IDF carried out a massive bombardment across Syria which practically destroyed of all Assad’s army.

The logic behind this move, which was seen by some observers as an unprovoked Israeli aggression, was probably to prevent the confiscation of all the remaining military equipment and weapons by the hands of terror organisations and other non-state actors operating in Syria.

This lesson was hard earned after the collapse of the Libyan regime and the uncontrolled proliferation of huge amounts of arms onto a wide range of militant groups, which led to years of instability in northern Africa. The repetition of such a scenario on Israel’s border was unacceptable.

In the days following the initial attack, Israel took another pre-emptive measure by taking control over the buffer zone which was established 50 years ago after the Yom Kippur war. This move reflected a lesson from the more recent October 7 attack by Hamas, which led Israel to prevent any hostile presence along its border as a means of eliminating the possibility of a surprise ground attack on its territory.

The new Syrian regime was able to contain Israel’s actions and did not respond militarily to any of those strikes or ground advancements by the IDF, but at the same time, declared its intentions to sign military agreements with Turkey, which had been Al-Sharaa’s patron for years and supported his long campaign against Assad. The notion of Turkish forces establishing a military presence in Syria was seen by Israel as another potential threat, especially due to the hostile rhetoric by Turkish president Erdogan towards it.

This tension rose to a peak after a series of Israeli attacks of Syrian bases which were meant to host Turkish forces. These events pushed Jerusalem and Ankara to accept mediation efforts led by Azerbaijan, a close ally of both countries. Recent reports on understandings being formalised and the establishment of a “hotline” between the two militaries, gives hope that this risk will be minimised.

The Israeli-Turkish military coordination over Syria and the direct engagement between Washington and Damascus, which led to the US lifting its long-term economic sanctions on the war-torn country, are critical for stabilising Syria after 14 years of violent civil war.

Looking forward, it appears that both Israel and Turkey will hold areas of influence in Syria and that western governments and companies will lead the massive reconstruction efforts, most probably paid by the rich gulf states headed by Saudi Arabia.

Al-Jolani, who was not too long-ago one of the US most wanted Al-Qaida's terrorists, is on track to lead Syria into a new era, under his birth name Al-Sharaa and with an overwhelming international recognition.

His ability to keep very close relations with his patrons in Turkey, gain the trust of President Trump and low Israel’s level of suspicion towards him are all signs of Al-Sharaa’s political skills, which will be critical for his future successes.

From Israel’s perspective, these recent developments allow room for cautious optimism: the future of Syria may also hold opportunities for bilateral cooperation and diplomatic recognition.

For Eli Cohen’s family, this future might include the closure of a 60-year-old tragedy, by bringing Eli’s remains for burial in Israel.