Eli Zeira ( he, אלי זעירא) (born 1928) is a former

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branch ...

. 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 an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab state ...

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

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

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 aga ...

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

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

Director-General

Zvi Zamir Zvi Zamir ( he, צבי זמיר) born Zvicka Zarzevsky (born 3 March 1925) is a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces and the director of the Mossad from 1968 to 1974. He is currently retired and lives in Israel. Early life Born in ...

accused Zeira of leaking the identity of

Ashraf Marwan Ashraf Marwan ( ar, أشرف مروان‎, 2 February 1944 – 27 June 2007) was an Egyptian billionaire, who worked as a spy for Israeli Mossad. Egyptian officials claim he was a double agent who also worked for them. From 1969, Marwan w ...

, 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 People from Haifa {{Israel-mil-bio-stub