The Life and Times of a Ruthless Mossad Chief

A new biography of Meir Dagan traces his career from decorated soldier to death dealing Israeli spy boss and beyond

Meir Dagan, former head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad, is pictured in Jerusalem on Dec. 18, 2006. REUTERS

A short time after the vaunted Maj. Gen. Meir Dagan was appointed head of the Mossad by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2002, a cabinet meeting was convened. Dagan, then 57, short and stocky, walked into the room with a limp — the result of wounds sustained in Israel’s 1967 and 1973 wars against Arab states and Palestinian terrorism.

Dagan was Sharon’s favorite warrior. He took at seat at the far, quiet end of the conference table, as if he were trying to make himself invisible.

“Come sit next to me at the head of the table,” Sharon called out to him. Dagan replied with the dry, cynical humor that would become his trademark: “Mr. Prime Minister, wherever I sit is the head of the table.”