A former spokesman for a major Israeli hospital claimed this week that an Israeli doctor sent to Turkey at Mossad’s request and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval saved Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s life after he developed cancer.
Avi Shushan, who served as spokesman for Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, known as Ichilov Hospital, made the claim Tuesday on Channel 14, an Israeli broadcaster, as panelists discussed footage of Erdoğan at the NATO summit in Ankara.
Shushan alleged that Erdoğan became seriously ill about six or seven years ago and that an unnamed Ichilov physician traveled to Turkey “as a representative of the State of Israel, at the request of the Mossad and with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Erdoğan underwent two intestinal operations in late 2011 and early 2012. His doctors said they had removed noncancerous polyps, while Erdoğan denied reports that he had cancer.
Shushan said Israeli media outlets sought confirmation when the purported treatment occurred but that he declined to discuss it at the time.
“This man, who today threatens the Jews, is alive and breathing thanks to a Jew, thanks to an Israeli, thanks to Benjamin Netanyahu and thanks to David Barnea,” Shushan said, referring to the former Mossad director, whose term ended in June.
The remark recast Erdoğan’s attacks on the Israeli government and its conduct as threats against Jewish people, a conflation rejected by Palestinian rights advocates.
Israeli media reported in 2022 that Erdoğan was receiving medical advice from Prof. Itzhak Shapira, then a deputy director of Ichilov Hospital and head of its medical tourism program.
Turkey’s government has treated speculation about Erdoğan’s health as a criminal matter. Police launched proceedings against 30 social media users in November 2021 after posts suggested that he had died.
Turkey’s relationship with Israel has long combined political confrontation with military, intelligence, energy and trade ties. The countries restored full diplomatic relations in 2022 before recalling ambassadors after Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023.
Erdoğan has accused Israel of genocide, Turkey halted direct trade in May 2024 and Ankara intervened in South Africa’s genocide case at the International Court of Justice. Palestinian solidarity groups have nevertheless challenged Turkey over oil shipments, port access and trade routed through third countries.
A 2025 report to the UN General Assembly by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, titled “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime,” placed Turkey within a wider system of third state support that enabled Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It said some trade continued indirectly, identified Turkish ports as transit points for oil and other goods and urged states to suspend military, trade and diplomatic relations with Israel.