The Iranian Shi’ite axis has suffered a tough blow at the hands of the Mossad and Israel in the countries’ recent wars, newly minted Mossad Director Roman Gofman said at his inauguration ceremony on Tuesday.
Gofman told the entire Mossad staff who were present at the ceremony, “You are the silent voice and the power of the State of Israel and of the Jewish nation. I enter with humility into this holy place, ready to rely on your knowledge and experience,” which is better than gold.
He added that the strategic flip that Israel imposed on Iran and that undermined its plans to destroy the Jewish state has “altered the balance of power for the entire region.”
However, he also said that the Mossad’s work to diminish the threat from Iran is far from over.
Gofman concluded that during his term, the Mossad would continue to act in the shadows to develop new capabilities and strategies that would surprise Israel’s adversaries.
Netanyahu says Gofman will 'remove Iran's regime from the world
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Gofman at the ceremony that he will remove Iran’s Islamic regime from the world.
Netanyahu added that following the Israeli strikes on Iran in 2025 and early 2026, the regime “will not return to threaten our existence” as it has done in the past with advancements toward a nuclear weapon or toward massive stockpiles of ballistic missiles.
The prime minister addressed Gofman, referring to his background as someone who moved to Israel from Belarus at age 14, saying, “You paved your own way with 10 fingers,” and later adding that Gofman was a successful boxer who finished second in a competition at age 17.
Further, Netanyahu told Gofman, “You overcame all of the obstacles. You overcame a rocky road to get the appointment, “ referring to multiple High Court of Justice petitions filed to block his appointment and opposition from outgoing Mossad director David Barnea.
Moreover, he said that Gofman had shown, even as a middle-aged colonel, that he would not be held back when fighting for Israel’s security, even when some of his questions to senior IDF commanders had led to ridicule.
In a now-famous speech in front of other mid-level officers, Gofman challenged then-IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot to take a more aggressive approach to confronting Israel’s adversaries.
Netanyahu said that among the reasons he had picked Gofman was his ability “to see the whole picture while also diving into the details, exceptional talent at using cunning – meaning to go out of the box – and to search for something that the enemy has not thought about, but which can serve as a foundation” for a major win.
The government approved Gofman’s new position on April 12, but it was only finalized when the High Court approved it on Monday.
The official approval came after the vetting committee, chaired by former Supreme Court chief justice Asher Grunis, approved Gofman, following months of delay due to prior controversies.
In December 2025, The Jerusalem Post reported that many forces were stacked against Gofman, but there were also strong winds in his sails.
Based on the Post’s interactions with him as an IDF officer and delving deeper into sources who know him, he is more formidable than many realize.
<strong>From Netanyahu's military secretary to Mossad chief</strong><a href="https://www.jpost.com/tags/roman-gofman"></a>
Gofman, 49, who moved to Israel from Belarus at age 14, was never meant to be the chief of Mossad.
Had he not been appointed Mossad chief, he might or might not have moved from being Netanyahu’s military secretary to another IDF high command role, depending on his relations with IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Zamir may have been suspicious of Gofman, as IDF chiefs sometimes are of a prime minister’s military secretary, given how loyal they are to the defense or political establishment, and moved him to a non-promotion track.
Though military secretaries often go on to obtain senior roles, an IDF chief may receive support from the prime minister on other issues in return for promoting the military secretary.
But all this is now irrelevant, as Gofman will be leaping up to head a global spy service juggernaut, which will essentially make him Zamir’s equal.
Incidentally, the Post understands that Gofman has Zamir’s full support, and that Zamir – regardless of their relationship while Gofman worked for Netanyahu – reflects fondly on working with Gofman in certain prior military roles.
There may be a wave of Mossad official resignations in protest, with the head of its Tevel foreign relations department expected to quit after one of their own, where “A” was the leading candidate, was not given the job.
The Post has learned that A is hurt that he was not Barnea’s pick and that former senior Mossad officials have called him unqualified.
But every change in Mossad leadership leads to resignations or firings, as there are always different wings within the Mossad, and each new leader has different priorities.
If some of the top-level Mossad officials resign or are fired, the second level is generally happy to take their place; A has become Mossad deputy chief, which could signal greater stability even when Gofman enters office.
Gofman’s command career in the army started as a tank company commander in the Netzarim area of Gaza.
In one instance, Gofman faced a surprise attack, and one of his biggest challenges was trying to track and find the Gaza invaders after they were already in Israeli territory.
Gofman rode at the head of his tank unit, found the invaders after only 20 minutes, overcame them, and took over their position almost single-handedly, all while continuing to maintain tank fire against additional threats.
If there is any question about whether Gofman has lost his fearlessness or become detached from what is really happening in the field due to recent years in higher command positions, one need only watch the short video of him charging into battle against Hamas on October 7, 2023, with no backup.
When Gofman was wounded in the leg, he became the highest-ranked wounded officer of the war, at the rank of brigadier-general at the time.
Gofman replaces Barnea as the country’s top spy chief after Barnea completed his five-year term, which started in 2021.
Earlier, on Tuesday morning, the Mossad announced that Barnea, in a retirement ceremony late Monday night, called for Israel and the agency to remain committed to toppling the Islamic regime that still runs Iran following the recent 2026 war.
If in the past, Barnea’s promise seemed to be to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, this time he doubled down or even tripled down on regime change in Iran, remaining the Mossad’s primary mission.
“I promised that Iran would never get a nuclear weapon. Today, when the Iranian regime is at its weakest, most challenged, and most wounded, this is the time to complete the job and to pay back the regime that engraved destroying us on its flag. We are at the height of a historic and important campaign,” said Barnea.
He continued, “I believed, and I still believe, that a change in the reality in Iran by virtue of toppling the regime is a possible and achievable goal. This is a possible goal.
“Clearly, this matter will require persistence, a cool head, and commitment to the mission. But this is our obligation to future generations. This mission must remain as our top priority.”
In contrast, Netanyahu’s comments during his Monday night speech did not focus on Iran and regime change.
Instead, he spoke about Barnea’s role leading the exploding beepers sabotage campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September 2024 and the near-immediate assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, which the Mossad also had a significant role in.
President Isaac Herzog’s thanks to Barnea focused on his role in bringing about two of the three hostage-release deals with Hamas and Qatar.
Barnea also wished Gofman the best of luck, despite publicly opposing his appointment before the High Court of Justice.
Following the High Court’s approval of Gofman to be the next head of the Mossad, Barnea sent a letter to all of the agency’s operatives saying, “I expect that all of you stand by Major-General Gofman and continue to support his entrance to the role [of Mossad chief] in the best way possible.”
“We have complex challenges in front of us that go to the heart of the security of the State of Israel, and the Mossad will have a central and influential role regarding them. The success of Major-General Gofman is the same as the success of the Mossad and the success of the entire State of Israel,” he continued.
Barnea repeated all of these principles in person to Gofman and the agency’s full staff at his exit ceremony.