Eli Zeira

Eli Zeira (; April 4, 1928 – November 21, 2025) was a 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"), despite intelligence to the contrary.

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

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. The State Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation, which proved inconclusive and was closed in 2012.

Early life and career Zeira's parents were immigrants to Mandatory Palestine from Poland. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother was a housekeeper. Zeira was born in Haifa on April 4, 1928, where he received elementary and high school education at the Hebrew Reali School. In 1946, when he was 18, he joined the Yiftach Brigade, then part of the Palmach. He fought for the brigade during the 1948 Palestine War, serving as both a company and platoon commander for its 1st Battalion. During the war, he fought against the Arab Liberation Army (ALA) in the Galilee, the Arab Legion at Latrun, and the Egyptian Army in the Negev. He also participated in repelling an offensive by the ALA in kibbutz Tirat Zvi.

Between 1949 and 1950, he led the Southern Command's squad leaders' school. He then enrolled in the United States Army's company commander's school for a year, becoming the first IDF officer to do so, where he learned to fly. In April 1973, Egyptian spy Ashraf Marwan warned the Mossad that Egypt and Syria would attack Israel in May. Zeira did not believe his warning, and he also doubted Arab military capabilities, stating: "A logical analysis of the situation will show that the Egyptians would make a mistake if they went to war". When no attack occurred, Zeira suspected that Marwan was a double agent attempting to sabotage Israel. A day after a secret meeting by King Hussein of Jordan to the Mossad guesthouse north of Tel Aviv on September 25, 1973, in which he warned of an imminent war, defense minister Dayan held a meeting with Zeira and his deputy, Aryeh Shalev, where they dismissed his warning as too vague. After Egypt conducted a large military drill on the Suez Canal on October 1, he dismissed the threat of war as "very low".

On October 6, Egypt and Syria began a coordinated attack on Israel in the first stage of the Yom Kippur War, catching Israel off guard and leading to heavy losses. Zeira did not activate these means despite requests from his own staff and Elazar because he was convinced that Egypt would not attack Israel, and believed that activating the means would risk exposing them.

Zeira called the findings baseless, and wrote in his autobiography that "thus the entire blame was placed on those in uniform, and the political leadership came out clean". He argued that the Mossad was responsible for Israel's shortcomings by listening to Marwan, who he claimed was a "double agent" who misguided Israel. A criminal probe into Zeira was conducted by the State Prosecutor's Office. The case was arbitrated by retired Supreme Court judge Theodor Orr, who concluded that Zeira had indeed leaked Marwan's identity and ordered him to pay compensation. The Attorney General closed the case with no charges in 2012, due to Zeira's age and his contributions to Israel’s security.