Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new head of the Mossad—and it’s not who you’d expect. This morning, Bibi tapped his military secretary Roman Gofman to replace David Barnea, who is set to wrap up his five-year term as Mossad chief in June 2026.
Gofman’s appointment is significant and groundbreaking for multiple reasons. Let’s break it down.
First, it marks a milestone for the roughly one million Jews who fled post-Soviet states for Israel. Born in Belarus, Gofman is set to become the most senior ever Israeli official who was born in the USSR.
Sure, that’s nice—but what are his credentials? His current rank is major general, the second highest in the IDF. Joining the army in 1995, he initially served in the Armored Corps, and later fought in Israel’s security zone in southern Lebanon and commanded battles in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.
More recently, he led an IDF campaign to prevent Iran from turning the Golan Heights into another front against the Jewish state, before taking up the position of Netanyahu’s military secretary last year.
And yes—he also fought in Sderot on October 7, and was injured when a bullet struck his knee.
But credentials and personal achievements aside, this appointment carries enormous significance for Israel’s security apparatus.
First is the fact that Gofman is an outsider. His three predecessors spent some 100 years in the Mossad combined. Gofman, meanwhile, doesn’t have one day in the agency to his name, and will become the first outsider to be appointed Mossad director since Meir Dagan in 2002.
This raises an obvious question: why wouldn’t Bibi pick someone from within Israel’s spy agency? After all, Barnea certainly had his own recommendations—never mind the fact that the Mossad is viewed by many Israelis as the sole security body that operates as it should.
While he didn’t say so in his announcement, Netanyahu’s choice of Gofman demonstrates a level of distrust of the Mossad, and may even suggest that he believes the agency needs a serious redo. The prime minister, it seems, views Gofman as the man of the hour. Indeed, Gofman is known for an offensive approach to security matters, so much so that at the 2019 farewell ceremony for outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Gofman lambasted military leadership from the podium for not ordering the IDF to act as forcefully as it should.
Great, so that’s why Bibi chose him? Not quite. There’s one more factor to consider—one that Netanyahu will certainly never say explicitly. In the past 13 months, the prime minister has replaced the heads of the IDF and Shin Bet, as well as his defense minister. And now, with the appointment of Roman Gofman to lead the Mossad, Netanyahu has finally finished remaking the top brass of Israel’s security establishment in his image.
Brocho V”Hatzlocho LeMala Miderech Hateva on Your Shlichus
He’s tough, sharp, and not afraid to get his hands dirty!
The new head of Mossad is also the first in several years to be appointed outside the Mossad. Which means, he didn’t have a career in the Mossad, but now he is going to lead the Mossad.
Bibi is consolidating power a bit too much. It made sense to get a Shabak chief from outside, as the internal security department was facing serious issues. Mossad by contrast, is performing better than ever before in its illustrious history. It is the envy of every counterpart organization on the planet. I do not understand what the PM is doing.
Was the rebbe consulted and THANKED in the ohel for this appointment!?!