State to close case against former IDF intel chief

The State Prosecutor's Office is expected to close the case against former IDF Intelligence Chief Major-General Eli Zeira, who was suspected of exposing the identity of Egyptian Mossad agent Ashraf Marwan during the Yom Kippur War, Channel 2 reported on Sunday.

Among the reasons for its decision to close the case, the prosecution cited the 84-year-old Zeira’s age, and the long time that has elapsed since launching the probe.

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Marwan, who was the son-in-law of former Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, served as a Mossad informer prior to the Yom Kippur War and warned Israeli officials of Egypt's intention to attack it.

In 2004, Zvi Zamir, who served as the head of the Mossad in 1973, accused Zeira of exposing Marwan's identity years after the war – a move that compromised his ability to recruit agents for Israel.

Zamir, along with two other officers who served under Zeira – Amos Gilboa and Yossi Langotsky – files an official complaint on the matter with the Attorney General.

In July 2008 it was reported that police and Shin Bet investigators are probing suspicions against Zeira. Zeira's attorneys responded to the report, saying that their client is "happy that these claims are finally being investigated since he is convinced that he never revealed state secrets and is denying all allegations."

Marwan, who started working with the Mossad in 1969, died in June 2007 of a ruptured aorta caused when he fell from a window of his flat on the fifth floor of Carlton House Terrace in London. Some said Israel assassinated Marwan, while others claimed he was depressed and committed suicide.

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