Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Shulamit Cohen lived a life few could imagine: a housewife raising children in Beirut while secretly passing critical intelligence to Israel and helping Jewish refugees reach safety. Over more than a decade, she balanced domestic responsibilities with covert operations, navigating suspicion, imprisonment, and political tension. Her story reveals how courage, ingenuity, and determination allowed a young mother to operate in plain sight, shaping history in ways most never expected.
0:00 Intro
1:03 Who was Shulamit Cohen?
2:57 1947 UN Partition Vote
6:04 Recruitment: Future Mossad Network
7:02 First Smuggling Mission
9:47 Refugee Pipeline Expands
12:22 Lebanese Intel Closes In
16:45 Prison, Release, Legacy
Sources
Golan, Aviezer and Pinkas, Danny. Shula: Code Name the Pearl. Delacorte Press, 1980.
Elkayam, Tovi. "Our Woman in Beirut." Misphacha, 10 Jun 2025.
Aderet, Ofer. "The 'Grandma James Bond' Who Spied for Israel Dies at 100." Haaretz, 26 May 2017.
Mallmann, Klaus-Michael and Cüppers, Martin. Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine. Enigma Books, 2010.
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Recommended video—The Secret the Mossad Regretted Forever youtube.com/watch?v=2rZWxQYBZ2w
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Facebook — /unpackedmedia
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Image and footage credits:
Getty Images
-----------
Executive Producers:
Michael Steinhardt
Co-Executive Producers:
Marc Shmuel Levine
Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum
Gold Level:
The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
-----------
Translation credits:
Portuguese: Saymon Pires
About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.
Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between.
About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
#mossad #lebanon #housewife
Shulamit Cohen lived a life few could imagine: a housewife raising children in Beirut while secretly passing critical intelligence to Israel and helping Jewish refugees reach safety. Over more than a decade, she balanced domestic responsibilities with covert operations, navigating suspicion, imprisonment, and political tension. Her story reveals how courage, ingenuity, and determination allowed a young mother to operate in plain sight, shaping history in ways most never expected.
0:00 Intro
1:03 Who was Shulamit Cohen?
2:57 1947 UN Partition Vote
6:04 Recruitment: Future Mossad Network
7:02 First Smuggling Mission
9:47 Refugee Pipeline Expands
12:22 Lebanese Intel Closes In
16:45 Prison, Release, Legacy
Sources
Golan, Aviezer and Pinkas, Danny. Shula: Code Name the Pearl. Delacorte Press, 1980.
Elkayam, Tovi. "Our Woman in Beirut." Misphacha, 10 Jun 2025.
Aderet, Ofer. "The 'Grandma James Bond' Who Spied for Israel Dies at 100." Haaretz, 26 May 2017.
Mallmann, Klaus-Michael and Cüppers, Martin. Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine. Enigma Books, 2010.
Subscribe and turn on your notifications so you don’t miss future uploads!
youtube.com/UNPACKED?sub_confirmation=1
Recommended video—The Secret the Mossad Regretted Forever youtube.com/watch?v=2rZWxQYBZ2w
We have merch! – http://shop.Unpacked.media/?utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=video-description&utm_campaign=merch
Let’s connect:
Website — https://www.Unpacked.media
Instagram — /unpackedmedia
Twitter — /unpackedmedia
TikTok — /unpackedmedia
Facebook — /unpackedmedia
-----------
Image and footage credits:
Getty Images
-----------
Executive Producers:
Michael Steinhardt
Co-Executive Producers:
Marc Shmuel Levine
Iris & Shalom Maidenbaum
Gold Level:
The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
-----------
Translation credits:
Portuguese: Saymon Pires
About Explainers: From ancient Jewish traditions to the modern State of Israel, we explain it all. Diving into anything and everything related to Jewish culture, history, and even religion.
Understand Jewish holidays, Israeli politics, Jewish diasporic communities, and more. Learn about Judaism in pop culture, debunking myths about Jews, and explore obscure Israeli landmarks. We’re asking questions as basic as “What is the Talmud?”, and as obscure as “How did hip-hop boost Kosher wine sales?”, and everything in between.
About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.
#mossad #lebanon #housewife
