The Mossad on Thursday revealed a photo of Ashraf Marwan, AKA the Angel, an intelligence source who worked for the agency prior to the Yom Kippur War, meeting with his hander – Doobi. The picture was revealed as part of the launch of the new book “When it Will be Permitted to Talk,” which uncovers the story of the agency before and during the war.

Marwan warned former Mossad Director Zvi Zamir of an impending joint attack by the Egyptian and Syrian armies the night before the war broke out in 1973. For the first time, the book presents the protocol of the meeting between Zamir and Marwan, a photo of the “Angel” with Dooby, and many additional documents.

Marwan was the son-in-law of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and one the closest advisors of his successor, Anwar Sadat. In the 60s, he married Nasser’s third daughter, bringing him into the president’s closest circle.

דיווח מבצעי מסבבי הפגישות הראשון עם ‘המלאך’enlarge
דיווח מבצעי מסבבי הפגישות הראשון עם ‘המלאך’
באדיבות משרד ראש הממשלה

Two days before the war, in the middle of the night, Ashraf Marwan’s handler received a message stating that the source wished to meet with him immediately “to give him a notification of great importance.” Within a few hours, the Mossad director himself met with the source. The meeting’s conclusion was that there was a 99% certainty that war would break out. The meeting began on October 5th at 11:45 PM and ended at 2:00 AM.

Marwan revealed that the Egyptians were planning on crossing the Suez Canal into the Israeli-controlled Sinai Peninsula: “The plan is to violate the cease-fire using artillery and air force and after that to cross the canal. The crossing will be done using five or six bridges. The intention is to capture an area that is not deeper than 10 KM. There is no intention to take over the outposts. The Syrians will capture the Golan to the best of their ability.”

He also described the expected Egyptian and Syrian air strikes. “The Egyptian Air Force will strike targets in Sinai. They won’t attack deep in Israel. The Syrian Air Force will strike three military bases, one of them being Ramat David (Airbase, near Haifa). In the past, I also gave information about two additional bases. Sukhoi 20 and MiG 21 jets will participate. They will try to hit runways.”

Marwan warned twice that war was coming, at the end of 1972 and in April 1973, but the war did not break out. Due to his second warning, the IDF proclaimed “Blue-White” standby and called up reserve troops.

Approximately half an hour after the meeting, Zamir sent a brief to Israeli officials reporting that the Egyptians were going to attack the next day. The Yom Kippur War did indeed break out the next day, two hours before the time that the “Angel” estimated. The brief facilitated the IDF’s preparedness and is considered to be critical to Israel’s readiness for the war.