Eli Zeira, the former Israeli major general and military intelligence chief, has died at the age of 97. Zeira is remembered for his role in the lead-up to the Yom Kippur War in 1973, when he dismissed warnings that Egypt and Syria were preparing to attack Israel. Despite intelligence from sources such as Ashraf Marwan, Zeira and his deputy assessed the likelihood of war as low, leading to insufficient military preparedness. The surprise attacks by Egypt and Syria resulted in early Israeli setbacks and shattered the nation's sense of security, though Israel ultimately prevailed after weeks of intense fighting. Zeira was later held responsible by an official commission for failing to provide adequate warning and resigned his post. In his later years, Zeira acknowledged his misjudgment as his greatest mistake and drew parallels between the intelligence failures of 1973 and more recent events in Israeli history.