The medical condition of former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, hospitalized in Belarus
after undergoing a liver transplant, has improved in recent hours, Dagan’s
friend and former police commander Uri Bar- Lev told The Jerusalem Post
Wednesday.
Dagan, 67, had traveled to Belarus after a matching donor was
found for him there, Bar-Lev added.
“All of the people of Israel are
praying for his full recovery. We all know his contribution to the security of
Israel. We pray that he wins the battle for life like has won all other
battles,” Bar-Lev added.
On Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander
Lukashenko said publicly that a “former Mossad chief” had undergone a liver
transplant at Belarus hospital at the beginning of October.
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.”
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 – a claim that was later
denied by Dagan’s associates.
“He traveled to Belarus because of the
donor,” Bar- Lev said. Asked if the disclosure formed a security problem for
Dagan, Bar-Lev denied that it did.
Dagan’s family has declined to
comment.
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
Dagan, including that of Hezbollah operations officer Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus
on February 12, 2008.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.