Few are the individuals who have contributed to Israel's security like former Mossad Director Meir Dagan, who died Thursday, at the age of 71. A decorated Israel Defense Forces officer, Dagan headed the IDF's Operations Branch and later the Counterterrorism Bureau before he was named head of the Israeli intelligence agency in 2002, a position he held until 2011. Dagan was born Meir Huberman in Ukraine in 1945, to Polish Jewish parents who had fled Poland for the Soviet Union to escape the Holocaust. The family immigrated to Israel in 1950 and initially lived in an immigrant camp in Lod, before moving to Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv. Decades later, Dagan would keep a now-famous photograph of his maternal grandfather, Ber Erlich Sloshny, in his Mossad office. In the photo, Dagan's grandfather is kneeling before Nazi soldiers shortly before they shot him. This photo, he said, helped shape his operational strategy. "Over the years, I would take this photo of grandfather, just before he was murdered by the Nazis, with me from place to place," he said. "I vowed this would never happen again, and I believe I did everything within my power to keep that promise." Dagan enlisted in the IDF's Paratroopers Brigade in 1963. He completed his compulsory service in 1966, but was called up as a reservist in the 1967 Six-Day War, commanded a Paratrooper platoon on the Sinai front. In early 1970, then-GOC Southern Command Ariel Sharon tasked him with creating the Rimon Unit, an elite unit that specializes in desert warfare, which has since marked considerable achievements in the war on terror. In 1971, Dagan received the Medal of Courage for tackling and subduing a wanted terrorist holding a live grenade. The 1973 Yom Kippur War saw Dagan command a unit fighting on the Sinai front, and he later participated in the crossing of the Suez Canal. Years later he recalled, "There were moments during the fighting that we thought we were going to lose. We knew that if the enemy breached our line, there would be nothing to stop it. Later I thought, 'If they couldnt defeat us under those circumstances, they never will.'" During the 1982 Lebanon War, Dagan commanded the Barak Armored Brigade, one of the first IDF units to enter Beirut. In 1991 he was named the chief of staff's counterterrorism adviser, and in 1992 Dagan was promoted to the rank of major general and made head of the Operations Branch at the Operations Directorate. He retired from the military in 1995, after 32 years of service. Making strides against terrorism Shortly after leaving the IDF, Dagan was named head of the Counterterrorism Bureau. In 2000 he became a registered Likud member, and headed Ariel Sharon's campaign for prime minister. Sharon later named Dagan head of the Israeli team holding security negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. In 2002, Dagan was named Mossad director, a position he would go on to hold for nine years, under three prime ministers -- Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Mossad chief's term is limited to five years, but Dagan's term was extended three times, twice by Olmert and once by Netanyahu. Describing Dagan's years as head of the Israeli spy agency, a statement released Thursday by the Mossad said, "Meir Dagan placed a considerable emphasis on preventing regional nations from obtaining unconventional weapons and thwarting terrorist activity against Jewish and Israeli targets worldwide. Dagan led organizational changes in the Mossad to facilitate meeting operational objectives." Dagan's contribution to the Mossad has been lauded as immense, and he is credited with cementing the Mossad's status in the global intelligence community, as well as making strides against Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. Dagan's term in the Mossad saw the spy agency mark significant achievements: Iranian nuclear scientists met mysterious ends worldwide, setting Tehran's nuclear program back again and again; notorious arch terrorists, including Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades co-founder Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and Hezbollah's operations chief Imad Mughniyeh, were killed; the suspected nuclear reactor in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria was destroyed; and Hezbollah's arsenal of long-range missiles was obliterated on the first day of the 2006 Second Lebanon War. The mid-2000s saw Dagan lead the defense establishment's objection to the deal that secured the release Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit from Hamas captivity. Schalit was eventually released in exchange for 1,027 security prisoners. Dagan was also a vocal opponent to any plan to strike nuclear facilities in Iran -- a position he shared with the media on the very day his term ended. Speaking with a group of 20 reporters, Dagan stressed that he opposed any Israeli strike in Iran, as not only would it fail to stop the Iranian nuclear program, it would significantly boost its legitimacy among the Iranian public. Over the past few years, Dagan became a vocal critic of Netanyahu's policies, lashing at him publicly on multiple occasions. The Prime Minister's Office claimed Dagan was disgruntled because Netanyahu had opted not to extend his tenure in the Mossad a fourth time. Dagan was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2012. In October that year, he underwent a liver transplant in Belarus. In a recent and rare interview he told Army Radio, "I dream of leaving a better life for my three children and seven grandchildren, a life dedicated to pursuing their dreams, not fighting for their home."
