Eli Zeira (; born 4 April 1928) is a former major general in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. He was director of Aman, Israel's military intelligence, during the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

. He is most remembered for his ill-conceived prewar assessment that

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

would not attack (also known as "The Concept"), despite intelligence to the contrary. The postwar

Agranat Commission The Agranat Commission (Hebrew: ועדת אגרנט) was a National Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate failings in the Israel Defense Forces in the prelude to the Yom Kippur War when Israel was found unprepared for the Egyptian attack a ...

, set to investigate the reasons for the costly war, found Zeira to be negligent of his duty, and he resigned. In 2004, former

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 ...

Director-General

Zvi Zamir Zvi Zamir (; born Zvicka Zarzevsky; 3 March 1925 – 2 January 2024) was a major general in the Israel Defense Forces and the director of the Mossad from 1968 to 1974. Early life Born in Poland on 3 March 1925, Zamir immigrated with his famil ...

accused Zeira of leaking the identity of

Ashraf Marwan Mohamed Ashraf Abu El Wafa Marwan, known as Ashraf Marwan (‎ 2 February 1944 – 27 June 2007), was an Egyptian official who worked as a spy for the Israeli Mossad. From 1969 on, Marwan worked at the Presidential Office, first under Gamal ...

, an Egyptian billionaire who served as a Mossad informant. The State Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation, which proved inconclusive and was closed in 2012.

References

1928 births Living people Directors of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel) Israeli generals Military personnel from Haifa {{Israel-mil-bio-stub