The Hidden Scandals Behind Israel’s First Heart Transplant and Organ Trafficking Network Ties
When people hear about medical firsts—like Israel’s first heart transplant—the story is usually told as a tale of progress and scientific achievement. But like so many events tied to power structures, there’s a darker side that rarely gets told. And in this case, that side involves serious ethical violations, allegations of stolen organs, and later, criminal cases involving rabbis and organ trafficking networks.
The 1968 Transplant: A Medical Breakthrough… With a Stolen Heart?
Israel’s first heart transplant took place in August 1968 at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva. The lead surgeon was Dr. Morris Levy, and the patient was a 41-year-old man with terminal heart disease. The donor was a 53-year-old man named Avraham Sadegat, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage.
But decades later, Sadegat’s family went public with claims that they were never informed their relative would become an organ donor. They say the hospital misled them about his condition and removed his heart without their consent. In a 2008 Haaretz article marking the 40th anniversary of the transplant, the family openly called the heart “stolen” (Haaretz, 2008).
For most countries, a scandal like that would have triggered national reflection and ethical reform. But in Israel, this was just the start of much deeper controversies.
Abu Kabir Forensic Institute: The 1990s Organ Harvesting Scandal
By the 1990s, a more systemic problem emerged. The Abu Kabir Forensic Institute of Tel-Aviv, Israel’s only forensic pathology center, became the focus of international outrage after it was revealed that organs were routinely harvested from the deceased without family consent.
Dr. Yehuda Hiss, who was then the head of the institute, admitted in a 2000 interview that body parts like corneas, skin, heart valves, and bones were being taken and used for transplants and medical research without proper authorization. Families weren’t notified. Permissions weren’t sought. This was standard practice at Abu Kabir for years (The Guardian, 2009, Wikipedia: Yehuda Hiss).
To make matters worse, these actions affected not just Israeli citizens but also Palestinians, foreign workers, and even Israeli soldiers.
Despite these admissions, Dr. Hiss kept his job for years. He wasn’t dismissed until 2012.
International Spotlight: The 2009 Aftonbladet Controversy
The world took broader notice of Israel’s organ harvesting practices after a 2009 article in Sweden’s Aftonbladet alleged that Palestinian bodies were being returned missing organs after deaths in Israeli custody. The Israeli government responded with fury, calling the article anti-Semitic propaganda. However, shortly after the controversy exploded, Dr. Hiss’s earlier confessions about unauthorized organ removal resurfaced, confirming that such practices had indeed taken place during the 1990s (The Guardian, 2009, Wikipedia).
The Rabbinical Connection: Organ Trafficking Hits New Jersey
Just when it seemed like the dust was settling on Israel’s organ scandals, a new and even more disturbing chapter emerged—this time across the Atlantic.
In 2009, a U.S. federal sting operation called Operation Bid Rig exposed a massive corruption and money-laundering network stretching from New Jersey to Israel. Among the 44 people arrested were five Orthodox rabbis from New York and New Jersey.
One of the most shocking arrests was that of Rabbi Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, who was charged with conspiring to broker illegal kidney transplants. According to court records, Rosenbaum admitted to buying kidneys from vulnerable individuals in Israel—often desperate, impoverished people—for around $10,000 and selling them to American patients for up to $160,000 per transplant (FBI.gov, 2009, Reuters, 2009, Wired, 2011).
Rosenbaum ultimately pled guilty, marking the first federal conviction in the United States for organ trafficking.
Other Scandals Involving High-Ranking Rabbis
Sadly, Rabbi Rosenbaum’s case wasn’t an isolated incident of criminal conduct among religious figures in Israel. Here are just a few examples of other scandals involving prominent rabbis:
Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto: Once a highly influential Israeli-Moroccan Orthodox leader, Pinto was convicted in 2014 for bribing a senior Israeli police officer (Wikipedia: Pinto).
Rabbi Yona Metzger: Israel’s former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi was convicted in 2017 for bribery, fraud, and money laundering, resulting in a 4.5-year prison sentence (Wikipedia: Metzger).
Rabbi Eliezer Berland: A spiritual leader who faced multiple criminal convictions, including sexual assault and defrauding followers by selling fake cures and blessings (Wikipedia: Berland).
While these cases aren’t all directly linked to organ trafficking, they illustrate a broader pattern of corruption and abuse of religious authority for personal gain.
Israel’s Response: Too Little, Too Late?
Following years of scandals, Israel finally enacted the Organ Transplantation Law in 2008. This law established new ethical guidelines for organ donation and included:
A clear legal definition of brain death
Requirements for donor or family consent
A ban on buying and selling organs
A donor-priority system (nicknamed “Don’t give, don’t get”) giving transplant priority to those already registered as donors (Wikipedia: Organ Transplant Law)
While this law was a step forward, it came only after years of damage—years when many families, both Israeli and Palestinian, were left grieving not only the loss of their loved ones but also the knowledge that their bodies were violated without permission.
Final Thoughts
When you look beyond the sanitized headlines about medical “firsts” and “innovations,” what emerges is a complex and deeply troubling story. A story about power. About lack of consent. About vulnerable people—both living and dead—being used for the benefit of others without regard for ethics, dignity, or human rights.
Medical advancements should never come at this cost. And history deserves to be told in full—no matter how uncomfortable the truth may be.
By Steven and Jana Ben-Nun
Sources:
Haaretz (2008): 40 Years After Israel’s First Transplant, Donor’s Family Says His Heart Was Stolen
The Guardian (2009): Israeli pathologists harvested organs without consent
FBI (2009): 44 Arrested in Corruption Bust
Reuters (2009): Mayors, rabbis arrested in NJ corruption probe
Wired (2011): Black Market Kidneys
Wikipedia: Yehuda Hiss, 2009 Aftonbladet Israel controversy, Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto, Yona Metzger, Eliezer Berland, Organ Transplant Law (Israel)
Pure evil !!!