Legendary spy widow Nadia Cohen tours Argentina

Legendary spy Eli Cohen's widow Nadia visited Buenos Aires last week with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to see where Eli Cohen lived and worked as a spy.

Cohen was recruited by the Mossad in 1960 and sent to Argentina, where he posed as an exiled Syrian businessman named Kamel Amin Tabet.

From December 1960 until August 1961 he was in Argentina. During this period he learned the language, socialized, built himself a persona, and established contacts with businessmen, diplomats, and Syrian military attachés for the purpose of his mission. He then moved to Syria.

The JTA news agency reported that his family arrived in Argentina's capital with extensive information about where Eli Cohen lived - including the Waldorf Hotel and two private apartments.

In meetings with local Jewish leaders and Israeli representatives, Nadia said that for the family, it was a very moving experience, sitting in cafes and eating at the restaurants where Eli was - especially because they had no hope of retrieving his body from Syria.

After three years in which he transferred tremendously valuable intelligence to Israel, Cohen was caught and sent to the gallows. Nadia Cohen and the State of Israel made repeated efforts over the years to persuade Syria to return his bones to Israel, but Syria did not respond to the requests.