Editing Lavon Affair (section)

==Trials and jail==
The Egyptian trial began on 11 December and lasted until 27 January 1955; two of the accused ([[Moshe Marzouk]] and {{ill|Shmuel Azar|he|שמואל עזר}}) were sentenced to death by hanging, two were acquitted, and the rest received lengthy prison terms ranging from 7 years to life in prison.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-20 |title=Six Israelis Sentenced As Spies in Egypt 15 Years Ago Living in Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/six-israelis-sentenced-as-spies-in-egypt-15-years-ago-living-in-israel |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103024352/https://www.jta.org/archive/six-israelis-sentenced-as-spies-in-egypt-15-years-ago-living-in-israel |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1954, on behalf of both [[Winston Churchill]] and the [[World Jewish Congress]], [[Maurice Orbach]] went to Cairo to intercede for the lives of those sentenced to death.<ref name=palgrave>{{cite book |title = The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History |publisher = Palgrave Macmillan |place = London |date = 2011 |access-date = 29 August 2016 |page = 734 |isbn = 9781403939104 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hJc8afOZV0QC&pg=PA734}}</ref> Later, he said that Egypt's president, Nasser, had agreed to spare their lives but then reneged on this, balancing their deaths with those of members of the [[Muslim Brotherhood]].<ref name=obitJTA>{{cite news |title = Maurice Orbach Dead at 76 |publisher = [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |url = http://www.jta.org/1979/04/27/archive/maurice-orbach-dead-at-76 |date = 27 April 1979 |access-date = 29 August 2016 |archive-date = 28 September 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160928002401/http://www.jta.org/1979/04/27/archive/maurice-orbach-dead-at-76 |url-status = live }}</ref>

The trial was criticised in Israel as a [[show trial]], although strict Israeli military censorship of the press at the time meant that the Israeli public was kept in the dark about the facts of the case, and in fact were led to believe that the defendants were innocent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shlaim |first=Avi |author-link=Avi Shlaim |title= The Iron Wall |year=2000 |publisher= Penguin Books |isbn= 978-0-14-028870-4 |pages= 117–119 |quote= Sharett knew that a death sentence would have a disastrous effect at home because the Israeli public had been led to believe that the defendants were innocent.}}</ref>

[[File:Shazar,_Ninyo,_Nathanson,_Dassa.png|thumb|[[Zalman Shazar]] met with the released operatives in 1968, including (from right to left): Robert Dessa, Philip Nathanson, and [[Marcelle Ninio]].]]
After serving seven-year jail sentences, two of the imprisoned operatives (Meir Meyuhas and Meir Za'afran) were released in 1962. The rest were eventually freed in February 1968, including [[Marcelle Ninio]], in a secret addendum to a prisoner-of-war exchange.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/marcelle-ninio-israeli-spy-jailed-in-infamous-lavon-affair-dies-at-90/|title=Marcelle Ninio, Israeli spy jailed by Egypt in infamous Lavon Affair, dies at 90|website=The Times of Israel|date=23 October 2019|access-date=26 October 2019|archive-date=28 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028180916/https://www.timesofisrael.com/marcelle-ninio-israeli-spy-jailed-in-infamous-lavon-affair-dies-at-90/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Soon after the affair, Mossad chief [[Isser Harel]] expressed suspicion to Aman concerning the integrity of Avri Elad. Despite his concerns, Aman continued using Elad for intelligence operations until 1956, when he was caught trying to sell Israeli documents to the Egyptians. Elad was tried in Israel and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. During his imprisonment in [[Ayalon Prison]], the media were only able to refer to him as the "Third Man" or "X" due to government censorship.<ref name="Ex-Prisoner X">{{cite web |last=Herman |first=Pini |title=Los Angeles had its own Israeli Ex-"Prisoner X" |url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/demographic_duo/item/los_angeles_had_its_own_israeli_ex_prisoner_x |work=Los Angeles Jewish Journal |publisher=Tribe Publications |access-date=20 February 2013 |archive-date=22 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222050610/http://www.jewishjournal.com/demographic_duo/item/los_angeles_had_its_own_israeli_ex_prisoner_x |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1976, while living in Los Angeles, Elad publicly identified himself as the "Third Man" from the Lavon Affair.<ref name="Ex-Prisoner X" /> In 1980, Harel publicly revealed evidence that Elad had been turned by the Egyptians even before Operation Susannah.