Israel Appoints Military General Roman Gofman as New Mossad Chief Despite No Intelligence Background

Major General Roman Gofman joined Prime Minister Netanyahu's office cabinet in April 2024.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed his military secretary, Major General Roman Gofman, as the next director of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. The announcement came on Thursday through a statement from Netanyahu's office, indicating that Gofman will succeed current Mossad chief David Barnea when his five-year term concludes in June 2026.

Born in Belarus in 1976, Gofman immigrated to Israel at the age of 14. His military career began in 1995 when he enlisted in the armored corps, subsequently building an extensive service record in the Israeli Defense Forces.

When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, triggering the Gaza war, Gofman was serving as commander of the national infantry training center. During the attacks, he sustained serious injuries while engaging Hamas militants in Sderot, a southern Israeli city near the Gaza border. Following his recovery, he was appointed as Netanyahu's military secretary in April 2024.

This appointment follows Netanyahu's earlier selection of David Zini, a military figure from Israel's religious Zionist movement, to head the Shin Bet domestic security agency. Both appointments represent Netanyahu's tendency to place individuals aligned with his nationalist perspectives in key security positions.

Although Gofman does not wear a yarmulke typically worn by practicing religious Jews, he received education at the Ely yeshiva, a Jewish religious institution located in a West Bank settlement known for its right-wing religious Zionist orientation.

Like Zini, Gofman lacks previous experience within the agency he will lead, though his appointment has generated less political controversy than Zini's nomination to Shin Bet.

Among the few critical voices is Uri Misgav, a columnist for the left-leaning Israeli newspaper Haaretz, who questioned Gofman's suitability to lead Mossad due to his absence of intelligence background. Misgav suggested that, similar to Zini's case, loyalty to Netanyahu was the primary factor in Gofman's selection.

Netanyahu's office defended the appointment, describing Gofman as "an officer of great merit" whose wartime service as the Prime Minister's military secretary "proved his exceptional professional capabilities."

The Mossad, widely regarded as one of the world's premier intelligence services, was not implicated in the intelligence failure preceding the October 7 attack, as Palestinian territories traditionally fall outside its operational scope.

Meanwhile, the heads of both Shin Bet and Aman (military intelligence) resigned after acknowledging their agencies' failure to predict the Hamas attack.

In recent months, Mossad has enhanced its reputation among Israelis through several high-profile operations during the ongoing multi-front conflict. The agency contributed to operations resulting in the elimination of Hezbollah's leadership in Lebanon in 2024 and participated in Israel's 12-day military campaign against Iranian armed forces in June.