JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A former spokesperson for Ichilov Medical Center claimed Tuesday that Israel secretly dispatched a physician to Turkey about six or seven years ago to save the life of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a serious illness.

Speaking during a Channel 14 program, Avi Shoshan said the mission was carried out at the request of Israel’s Mossad and approved by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He alleged that a well-known physician from Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv traveled to treat Erdoğan, but declined to identify the doctor.

המוקד: אבי שושן ב'ערוץ 14': ישראל הצילה את ארדואן. רופא מאיכלוב נשלח ע"י המוסד להציל אותו לפני 6-7 שנים pic.twitter.com/1wQSjHyFNs

— חדשות המוקד (@hamoked_il) July 7, 2026

“Israel saved Erdoğan,” Shoshan said. “The Mossad sent a doctor from Israel.”

Shoshan said journalists had sought confirmation of the story at the time, but he refused to comment publicly.

“Erdoğan, the man who is now threatening the Jewish people, was saved by Israel,” he said, adding that the physician traveled “on behalf of the State of Israel,” not in a personal capacity.

The remarks prompted surprise from the program’s hosts, Yehuda Schlesinger and Yaakov Bardugo, who pressed Shoshan for additional details. Bardugo later remarked that Erdoğan was “alive thanks to a Jew, thanks to an Israeli, thanks to Benjamin Netanyahu and thanks to Dedi Barnea,” referring to the current Mossad director.

Shoshan offered no evidence to support his claims, and there has been no official confirmation from the Israeli government, the Mossad, the Turkish government or the physician allegedly involved.

Shoshan did not specify when the alleged mission took place, beyond saying it occurred about six or seven years ago. His account follows years of public speculation about Erdoğan’s health after he underwent intestinal surgery in 2011, though Erdoğan and his physicians denied reports that he had cancer.

Separate reports published in 2022 said Prof. Itzhak Shapira, then deputy director-general of Ichilov Medical Center, had provided medical advice to Erdoğan. Those reports, however, did not mention a covert Mossad mission or claim that Israel saved the Turkish leader’s life.