ABAN24 - In recent days and after announcing ceasefire with Iran, the underground corridors of the Israeli government were shaken by a political and security quake as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a hasty and meaningful move reshuffled the cabinet at highest levels by changing one of the most important officials of the Israeli security and war organization.
Israeli media reported Monday that Roman Gofman replaced David Barnea as the the Mossad chief, commencing a five-year period over the regime's spying apparatus, in effect since June 2.
Gofman has been serving as the military secretary of Netanyahu since April 2024. Gofman was born in 1976 in Belarus and migrated to the occupied Palestinian territories when 15 years old. In 1995, he joined the Israeli army and he was appointed as military secretary to Netanyahu after he was injured during October 7 attacks. At the time, he was the commander of National Center for Infantry Training.
The appointment of Gofman as Mossad director was met with major criticism, with some critics arguing he is a military man and so has no experience in intelligence and secret operations.
While changes in Mossad leadership are common every few years, the dismissal of such a prominent figure during wartime signals a precarious security situation in the occupied territories.
Barnea, victim to Israeli loss to Iran in war
Reports by some Hebrew resources suggest that the fight broke out between Netanyahu and Barnea after the PM in the middle of war with Iran accused the Mossad chief of involving Israel in a war whose outcomes are unclear by providing false information about the political and social situation in Iran, warning that loss in this war can pose heavy existential threats to the regime.
Hebrew media report that on the other hand, Mossad believes that it provided credible information to Netanyahu, but the PM waged a war on Tehran with unpredictable results driven by personal hawkish spirit, and so it is not the spying agency but the PM himself that holds the responsibility for defeat in the current war.
Some Hebrew sources have gone even further, claiming that the PM's Office and Mossad have accused each other of the penetration of Iranian spies and the leakage of sensitive information from Israel's military and security centers.
It is noteworthy that several American media outlets reported a few weeks ago that the US Vice President JD Vance harshly criticized Mossad's misinformation about the internal situation in Iran during a phone call with Netanyahu, expressing anger that chaos did not erupt as soon as the war began.
The news of the Mossad chief's dismissal leaked out after the 12-day war, with Hebrew media reporting that Mossad had failed to create unrest inside Iran and generate an environment for chaos. As a result, discussions about this dismissal have gained serious traction from December 2025.
However, despite the turmoil in Iran in December 2025, Mossad suffered another failure and was unable to inflict damage on the Islamic Republic. They had hoped to achieve through war what they could not realize via street protests, but this predicament backfired on the Mossad chief.
Previously, some reports suggested that Mossad believed following the December unrest that the current climate was ripe for toppling the Islamic Republic. They anticipated that extensive attacks by the US and the Israeli regime could allow them to organize internal dissidents and achieve their goals. Yet, as the world witnessed, not only not protests take to the streets as the war broke out, but also millions turned out in public squares and streets to support the Islamic Republic from the second day of the conflict, preventing enemies and domestic spies from exploiting the situation to overthrow the Islamic Republic. This thwarted the plans of Washington and Tel Aviv entirely.
Meanwhile, the army intelligence unit, AMAN, reported that Mossad's assessment about regime change in Iran using force was incorrect and unrealistic.
Furthermore, the opposition leader and ex-PM Yair Lapid in a speech lashed out at the government, saying that Netanyahu involved Israel in a game of no-return without thinking about its consequences. Lapid's remarks regarding the failure to change the regime in Iran and the empowerment and globalization of the Resistance camp and its discourse following the victory and morale boost derived from the US defeat in the war could pose even greater challenges for the Israeli regime in the future. Despite Netanyahu's daily claims that Iran has become significantly weaker after this war and that Israel is stronger now, none of the critics within the occupied territories believe these assertions.
The failure in military action and regime change push have ensnared Trump and Netanyahu in a quagmire from which, 46 days later, they still have not found a solution to escape this self-created crisis. They resort to new options daily, hoping that economic pressure can force the Islamic Republic to surrender, but so far, all these options have met their failure.
Netanyahu evades responsibility, blames loss on Mossad
Dismissal of Barnea sends a warning to the Israeli regime that highlights the bitter loss in the recent war. This Netanyahu move is not accidental, rather, it is a calculated measure to cover up on the intelligence losses to Iran.
The constant firing of missiles and drones from Iran to the occupied territories during war demonstrated that Mossad's intelligence of the Iranian military power and missile infrastructure were inexact, and just contrary to intelligence assessments, even airstrikes could not take out Iran's military capabilities.
Therefore, under pressure for insecurity in the occupied territories, Netanyahu is pushing to blame Mossad for loss to Tehran and the allied Axis of Resistance to steer clear of sharp criticism.
Netanyahu is skilled in escaping forward and evading responsibility for losses, something always highlighted by his political opponents. For instance, following October 7 that was blamed as a big security and intelligence loss to Hamas, Netanyahu refused to shoulder responsibility, instead blaming the army, Shin Bet, and Mossad officials for the failure to predict and prevent Hamas attack.
Now, it must be said that Mossad chief dismissal bears witness to a collapse of the home confidence, where Netanyahu victimizes the security officials to save his own position in power. Finally, this political maneuvering of Netanyahu exposes the regime's deeper wounds, suggesting that Tehran is the winner and Tel Aviv is stuck in a quagmire of which there is no way out.
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