Shulamit "Shula" Kishik-Cohen (, , also Shulamit Cohen-Kishik) (1917 – 21 May 2017) was an Israeli spy who worked to smuggle Jews from Arab countries into Israel. She was noted for her missions in Lebanon and work for the

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

Biography

Kishik-Cohen was born in Argentina, immigrated to Mandatory Palestine as a child, and grew up in the

Mekor Baruch Mekor Baruch (, lit., "blessed source" or "fountain of blessing") also spelled Makor Baruch, is a neighborhood in Jerusalem. The neighborhood is bordered by Malkhei Yisrael Street to the north, Sarei Yisrael Street to the west, Jaffa Road to the ...

neighborhood in Jerusalem. She studied at the

Evelina de Rothschild Evelina Gertrude de Rothschild (25 August 1839 – 4 December 1866) was an English socialite and a member of the Rothschild banking family of England. Biography Evelina de Rothschild was the daughter of Baron Lionel de Rothschild, the first ope ...

School. At the age of 16, she married a Lebanese-Jewish merchant named Yosef. The couple lived in

Wadi Abu Jamil Wadi Abu Jamil is the former Jewish quarter in Beirut, Lebanon, located in the city's central district. History Formerly known as ''Wadi al-Yahoud'' (meaning "Valley of the Jews"), the quarter was the center of the Lebanese Jewish community, wi ...

, the

Jewish quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

in Beirut and raised seven children. Her son, Itzhak Levanon, is an Israeli diplomat who was Israel's ambassador to Egypt. In Beirut, she began working in the local Jewish community and even established contacts with the authorities. Throughout Lebanon, Jews were smuggled to Israel under the noses of the Lebanese authorities. At the beginning of the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

, she transferred information about Lebanese military activity to the headquarters of the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in Metulla. She continued her espionage activities without the knowledge of her family, sending her two older children to Israel for their own safety. Kishik-Cohen continued to gather intelligence from Lebanon and Syria from 1947 to 1961. She assisted the Mossad in bringing the Jews of Lebanon and other Arab countries to Israel. Her Mossad codename was "The Pearl." She was caught in 1952 and imprisoned for 36 days. In 1961, Kishik-Cohen was arrested by the Lebanese authorities. After being severely tortured her trial started in November 1962. At first announcing a death sentence the court changed it to 20 years. In August 1963 following her appeal it was reduced to seven years. Her husband was also arrested and accused of knowing about his wife's activities. In August 1967 she was released as part of the prisoner exchange deal following the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

and resided in Jerusalem until her death in 2017. In 2007, on the 59th Independence Day of the State of Israel, Kishik-Cohen was selected to light a torch at the annual torchlighting ceremony. In 2010 she was awarded the title of

Yakir Yerushalayim Yakir Yerushalayim (; ) is an annual citizenship prize in Jerusalem, inaugurated in 1967. The prize is awarded annually by the municipality of the City of Jerusalem to one or more residents of the city who have contributed to the cultural an ...

. In November 2011, she won the Dona Gracia Medal. Shulamit Kishik-Cohen died on 21 May 2017 at the age of 100, at

Hadassah Medical Center Hadassah Medical Center () is an Israeli medical organization established in 1934 that operates two university hospitals in Jerusalem (one in Ein Karem and one in Mount Scopus) as well as schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacology ...

in Jerusalem, at the

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or "Mount Syenite") is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Jerusalem. Between the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

campus.

References

External links

Shula, code name the Pearl
by Aviezer Golan and Danny Pinkas at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kishik-Cohen, Shulamit 1917 births 2017 deaths People convicted of spying for Israel Argentine Jews Argentine prisoners sentenced to death Israeli people of Argentine-Jewish descent Israeli prisoners sentenced to death Argentine emigrants Immigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli Jews Israeli women centenarians Women sentenced to death Mossad agents convicted of crimes Prisoners sentenced to death by Lebanon Burials at Har HaMenuchot Jewish centenarians