In an unprecedented move, the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) has launched an investigation against a retired IDF chief of intelligence, Major-General Eli Zeira. According to suspicions, Zeira revealed the name of Mossad agent, Egyptian national Dr. Ashraf Marwan, who died on June 27, 2007. The cause of death was listed as a ruptured aorta, the result of a fall from a fifth floor window of the Carlton House Terrace in London. While it has not been proven, it is believed that he was murdered.

Zeira, who headed military intelligence during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, denies the allegations, stating he never disclosed classified information, adding he will cooperate with the investigation in any way possible.

The investigation began a number of months ago, but the Petach Tikvah Magistrate’s Court issued a gag order, prohibiting any media coverage. Following an appeal by the daily Haaretz, the scope of the gag order was minimized, permitting publication of some details of the ongoing case.

Complaints filed over four years ago by former Mossad Director Tzvi Zamir and two former senior intelligence officers, Brigadier-General Amos Gilboa and Colonel Yossi Lingutzki, leading to the launching of the investigation. They reportedly furnished documentation and gave testimony that Zeira did indeed leak the identity of the Mossad agent, which is also reported by author Howard Blum, who in his 2003 book reveals the relationship between Marwan and the Mossad. Blum credits Zeira with providing him with the information, linking the member of the Egyptian loyal family with Israel’s spy network.

During the 1990s, Zeira already hinted to the media that Israel’s advanced knowledge of Egyptian plans to attack in the 1973 Yom Kippur War came from Marwan. Zeira also believes that he was a double agent, working for the Egyptians as well.

An in-depth investigation into such a possibility was launched in the 1970s by the Mossad and it was ruled that there was no basis for such allegations against Marwan.

After his body was found, Zamir stated he has no doubt that Marwan took his own life because Zeira disclosed his identity as a Mossad agent.

Marwan, an Egyptian billionaire, in the 1960s married Mona Gamal Abdel Nasser, the daughter of former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. He ended his relationship with Israel in the 1970s and eventually was appointed chief of staff to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. His son married the daughter of Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister who today serves as secretary-general of the Arab League.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)