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Meir Dagan (Hebrew: מאיר דגן) is an Israeli military figure and current Director of the Mossad. Born Meir Huberman in the Soviet Union in 1945, Dagan is the son of Holocaust survivors. Dagan's family immigrated to Israel in 1950 and settled in Bat Yam, a coastal city south of Tel Aviv.

In 1963 Dagan enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served in the paratrooper brigade. In the 1967 Six Day War he commanded a company which fought in Sinai, and after that he participated in the fighting in the Golan Heights. Dagan was decorated with the Medal of Courage in 1971. During the 1982 Lebanon War, Dagan commanded the Barak Armored Brigade, and after that served as the commander of the Israeli unit with a connection to Lebanon. As the commander of this unit Dagan learned of Unit 504, an Israeli intelligence unit which operates agents, and founded a similar unit in connection to Lebanon.

In 1995 Dagan retired from the IDF. A year later, he was requested to return to public service by then Prime Minister of Israel, Shimon Peres. He was added to the Israeli Headquarters for Fighting Terror as Ami Ayalon's Deputy. When Ayalon received the position of head of the Shabak, Dagan became head of the Headquarters. At the end of the 90's, Dagan joined the Israeli General Staff, as head of the operations division and special advisor to the head of the General Staff.

Dagan was appointed Director of the Mossad by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in August 2002, replacing outgoing Director Ephraim Halevy. He was reconfirmed until the end of 2008 by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in February 2007.^[1]

During his military service Dagan was injured twice, and also won a decoration for his service. Dagan holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Haifa.

[edit] References

1. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel. "Analysis: Another year of Dagan means continuity for Sharon's Iran policy", The Jerusalem Post, February 21, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2007.

Preceded by Ephraim Halevy

Director of the Mossad 2002–Present

Succeeded by Incumbent