Netanyahu to i24NEWS: Israel undertaking efforts to retrieve Eli Cohen's remains from Syria
Netanyahu also trashes opponents as too inexperienced to handle the economy post-pandemic
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to i24NEWS on Tuesday ahead of the country's fourth election in under two years, where he revealed a dramatic new development in the effort to retrieve the remains of former Mossad agent Eli Cohen.
In a special interview with the prime minister, Netanyahu confirmed for the first time that Israeli efforts are currently underway to retrieve the remains of the famous clandestine agent, who was killed by the Syrian regime in May 1965.
“I can say that as for Eli Cohen, we have not stopped looking," Netanyahu told i24NEWS in an interview aired on Tuesday evening.
"I did not say that we are doing so through Russia, but we are not giving up. The efforts continue these very days, not in particular, but yes they are part of an ongoing effort that I hope it will yield results,” Netanyahu added.
i24NEWS also to a Syrian government source that claimed that Russia had recently handed over a personal item of Cohen's which is being analyzed for more information.
According to the Syrian source, Damascus transferred the item to Russia, which is currently searching for Cohen's remains in the region of the al-Yarmouk refugee camp.
The Prime Minister Office's initially responded that it had no comment regarding the artifact, and later denied it had recently received a personal item linked to Cohen.
The prime minister also touched on a number of pressing issues currently facing the Jewish state, including Israel's upcoming election, Iran's nuclear capabilities, and Jerusalem's diplomatic breakthrough with the Arab world.
But i24NEWS began by pressing Netanyahu on the country's current health crisis and the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and economic future.
Asked where the country stands at the moment, Netanyahu confidently boasted that Israel "is coming out of the corona [pandemic] faster than anyone else in the world."
He continued by stating that if people adhere to the rules and keep social distancing, then "we're not going to have any lockdown, in fact we're going to have a brilliant economic future."
Using a plane analogy, Netanyahu trashed his opponents as amateurs who lack experience "in the cockpit," emphasizing he's best equipped to overcome the economic challenges left in the pandemic's wake.
"Who is going to take the Israeli economy and bring it to new heights,?" Netanyahu asked.
"I know how to fly this plane, the other guys don't even have a flight license," Netanyahu continued. "They don't have proven experience, they don't have a safe pair of hands... they want to sit in the cockpit, that ain't going to work."