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Eli Zeira

Maj. Gen. Eli Zeira in an undated photo (Israel Defense Forces)
December 20, 2025, 7:20 am
How onetime rising IDF star Eli Zeira’s repeat miscalculations cost his country and career
Dead last month at 97, military intelligence chief was regarded by critics as over-confident and obdurate, but cost of his arrogance was only recognized when it was too late, hours before Yom Kippur War
By Abraham Rabinovich
Former IDF Military Intelligence Directorate chief Eli Zeira, July 16 2012. (Flash90)
November 21, 2025, 5:35 pm
Eli Zeira, Yom Kippur War intel chief who assessed Egypt and Syria wouldn’t attack, dies at 97
Zeira, whose dismissal of warnings before the 1973 war left Israel blindsided, became one of the most controversial figures in the nation’s military and intelligence history
By Emanuel Fabian and Stav Levaton
Zvi Zamir speaks at a memorial service marking 21 years since the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, held at Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem on November 4, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 2, 2024, 9:07 am
Zvi Zamir, the man who sounded the alarm in 1973, is dead at 98
As Mossad chief, Zamir spearheaded the post-Munich campaign against Palestinian terror in Europe and warned, at the midnight hour, that the Yom Kippur War was breaking out
By Mitch Ginsburg
Security forces help passengers and crew off Sabena flight 571, following its 1972 hijacking at Lod Airport (Ron Ilan/Israel Defense Forces Archive)
May 19, 2022, 4:01 pm
‘Mechanics are en route’: Defense Ministry releases logs from 1972 Sabena hijacking
Military archive marks 50 years since ‘Operation Isotope’ when Sayeret Matkal commandos disguised as technicians stormed flight 571 to rescue passengers from Palestinian terrorists
By Emanuel Fabian
Top IDF officers look at a map during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. (Israel Defense Forces/Defense Ministry Archives)
September 24, 2020, 4:55 pm
Declassified: ‘Golden’ communique that could’ve averted Yom Kippur War disaster
Day before surprise attack, the IDF intel chief received a report Soviet nationals were fleeing the area ahead of an impending assault — and didn’t tell anyone for over 10 hours
By Judah Ari Gross
Reservist soldiers pose on the top of a truck during the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in the Sinai Peninsula on October 6, 1973. (Avi Simhoni/Bamahane/Defense Ministry Archives)
September 17, 2018, 6:54 pm
‘Odds of war lower than low’: Papers highlight intel failures in Yom Kippur War
Documents declassified on 45th anniversary show Mossad Egyptian source suggested day before attack that Israel make public Arab states’ plans in order to deter them. He was ignored
By Judah Ari Gross
Bruce Brill
September 29, 2017, 12:43 pm
Bruce Brill
The truth behind the Yom Kippur surprise
We in the NSA knew well in advance that Syria and Egypt intended to attack Israel on October 6, 1973
US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu go informal at Ben Gurion Airport, March 22, 2013 (photo credit: Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90)
October 1, 2014, 3:00 pm
Netanyahu: kibitzer, annoying uncle, math whiz
Three papers have three different views of the prime minister, but all agree he will be meeting a peeved Obama Wednesday
By Joshua Davidovich
Prime Minister Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan meet with troops on the Golan Heights, on November 21, 1973. (Ron Frenkel/GPO)
November 1, 2013, 6:11 am
New Yom Kippur War testimony details the failures
Moshe Dayan, along with the heads of the Mossad and Military Intelligence, sidestepped responsibility, Agranat Commission minutes reveal
By Mitch Ginsburg
A wrecked Israeli tank during the early days of the Yom Kippur War (Wikimedia Commons)
October 6, 2013, 7:31 pm
40 years on, Yom Kippur War intel chiefs trade barbs
Eli Zeira and Zvi Zamir, respective heads of Military Intelligence and the Mossad in 1973, argue at Tel Aviv conference about Mideast war’s outbreak
By Mitch Ginsburg
Prime minister Golda Meir and cabinet members visiting the southern command, October 29, 1973. (Photo Credit: GPO/Yehuda Tzion)
September 12, 2013, 4:00 pm
Golda Meir: ‘My heart was drawn to a preemptive strike, but I was scared’
Israel finally releases the late prime minister’s testimony before the Agranat Commission on her handling of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, in which 2,500 Israelis lost their lives
By Mitch Ginsburg
A wrecked Israeli tank during the early days of the Yom Kippur War (Wikimedia Commons)
September 21, 2012, 2:00 am
Yom Kippur War revelations underline gravity of Iran dilemma facing Israel today
Testimonies from 1973 declassified on Thursday show decision-makers’ staggering incompetence and arrogance. Israelis can only hope lessons were truly learned
By Mitch Ginsburg
Ahron Bregman at his London home, July 2012 (photo credit: courtesy/Adam J. Bregman)
July 24, 2012, 7:44 pm
‘I should never have exposed Egypt’s 1973 war super spy’
Five years after Ashraf Marwan — Nasser’s son-in-law, and the agent known as ‘Angel’ — plunged to his death from the balcony of his London home, a wrenching confession from Ahron Bregman, the Israeli academic who blew Marwan’s cover
By Elhanan Miller
Charles Bronfman speaking at a Taglit-Birthright event. (Courtesy)
July 9, 2012, 1:26 pm
Go ahead, draft the draft draft
Plesner and Ya’alon get down to business, Bronfman’s billions are funding protests and the sages of Jerusalem city hall wonder what’s in a road
By Joshua Davidovich
Ashraf Marwan. (Screenshot from "The Israeli Connection," via YouTube)
July 8, 2012, 10:34 pm
State closing case against former intel chief over outing of spy
Eli Zeira, known for failed assessment ahead of Yom Kippur War, was accused of revealing the identity of Israel’s most senior source in Egypt 40 years ago
By Philip Podolsky
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