Eli Zeira

Eli Zeira (Hebrew: אלי זעירא) (born 4 April 1928) is a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He was director of Aman, Israel's military intelligence, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He is most remembered for his ill-conceived prewar assessment that Egypt and Syria would not attack (also known as "The Concept"),^[1][2] despite intelligence to the contrary.

Eli Zeira
Native name	אלי זעירא
Born	(1928-04-04) 4 April 1928 (age 96) Haifa, Palestine, United Kingdom
Allegiance	Israel
Service / branch	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1946–1974
Rank	Major General
Commands	Director of Aman

The postwar Agranat Commission, set to investigate the reasons for the costly war, found Zeira to be negligent of his duty, and he resigned.^[3]

In 2004, former Mossad Director-General Zvi Zamir accused Zeira of leaking the identity of Ashraf Marwan, an Egyptian billionaire who served as a Mossad informant.^[4] The State Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation, which proved inconclusive and was closed in 2012.^[5]

References

1. Shlaim, Avi "The Iron Wall -Israel and the Arab World." 2000. ISBN 978-0-140-28870-4. Page 319.
2. ^ Steven, Stewart, "The Spymasters of Israel." 1980, ninth printing 1988. ISBN 0-345-33927-4. Page 358:" [Zeira] was one of the architects of what was known as 'the concept.' Simply stated, the concept laid down first that the Arabs were not ready for an all-out war with Israel. Though they could launch a limited war, they knew perfectly well that Israel would not feel bound by the rules of that game, and a limited war would quickly escalate into a general one. Second, Zeira's concept laid down, that if there was to be a war, it would be a short one. The third assumption was that in an overall war, the Arabs would be quickly defeated."
3. Dayan, Moshe, "Story of My Life." ISBN 0-688-03076-9. 1976. Page 606. "The commission found that Maj. Gen. Eliyahu Zeira, 'in view of his grave failure ... cannot continue in his post as chief of Military Intelligence.'"
4. Bar-Joseph, Uri (2016). The Angel: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 299–300. ISBN 9780062420138.
5. Magnezi, Aviel (8 July 2012). "State to close case against former IDF intel chief". Ynetnews.