A “former Mossad chief” underwent a liver transplant in a Belarus hospital at
the beginning of October, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated at a
press conference Tuesday evening, sparking speculation in Israel that the
patient was Meir Dagan.
Lukashenko said that surgeons in several
countries, including the US, Germany and Sweden, had refused to operate on the
patient after learning of his former career as a spymaster, though he didn’t
mention Dagan by name. The president added that doctors in these countries had
recommended the Belarusian Transplant Center as the best place for the man to
undergo his operation.
When Belarusian doctors realized their patient’s
identity and told the president, Lukashenko reportedly told them to “tell the
general that like any doctor anywhere, we cannot promise anything, but we will
do everything so that [the operation] is carried out with the most up-to-date
technology.”
The patient was hospitalized in a sterile room for fear of
infection, with his doctors waiting to see whether his body would absorb the
transplanted organ.
Dagan’s family would not comment on the
matter.
Dagan retired from the IDF as a major-general in 1995 and was
appointed head of the Mossad in 2002. His tenure was extended
twice.
Foreign media attribute several high-profile assassinations to
agents working under his command, including that of Hezbollah operations officer
Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus on February 12, 2008.