The body found inside an elevator shaft at Sharon Building (55 New Montgomery Street) has been identified as 38-year-old Dr. Daniel J. Kliman, an Alameda physician and "one of the Bay Area's foremost pro-Israel activists."

Quite the controversial figure, Kliman curiously died late last week after allegedly stepping into an open shaft, plunging several stories to his death. Kliman, an Oakland resident, was the co-founder S.F. Voice for Israel, an organization that demonstrates on behalf of Israeli causes. Members of S.F. Voice for Israel have asked SFPD to investigate his death in order to rule out homicide.

Update: Word is that Kliman did not walk into the open elevator shaft as the media has reported. Inspector Matt Krimsky of the San Francisco Police Department tells SF Weekly:

"He gets into the elevator car. For some inexplicable reason, the elevator gets stuck between floors -- we think between the sixth and seventh. He is somehow able to open the doors from inside and sees that he's between floors ... [w]e know he got into the elevator ... and ended up in the elevator well. How he did that is under investigation."

Krimsky, who is investigating Kliman's death, goes on to say that while "words have been twisted around," there is "no evidence of foul play whatsoever." Read more about it here.