Mossad Chief Roman Gofman has pushed Israel’s national intelligence service into a state of turmoil, N12 News reported on Sunday, citing interviews with 10 former senior members of the agency.
However, the Mossad heavily pushed back on the article’s claims in a statement to The Jerusalem Post, calling the N12 report “a biased article, riddled with distortions and inaccuracies.”
The Mossad claimed that the N12 report “recycles old stories and allegations while artificially linking unrelated events and taking them out of context, in an attempt to manufacture a crisis and paint a distorted picture that is disconnected from reality.”
Gofman’s Mossad shakeup
The Post has previously reported that Gofman fired three former top Mossad officials when he took the post nearly six months ago.
But N12 reported that Gofman has fired as many as four top intelligence officials, and that two others, the agency’s comptroller and a division head, intend to resign within the month.
The individuals Gofman fired include: A., the deputy Mossad director, who was considered the natural candidate to succeed to the position; K., the head of the Intelligence Division; Y., the head of the Iran Division; and D., the head of the Operations Division. Sources told N12 that such a rapid wave of dismissals or resignations is unprecedented.
"There is a problem," said Y., a former senior Mossad official. "Gofman didn't come from within the organization. He didn't rise through the ranks of the Shin Bet, nor did he come from an intelligence background in the IDF.
“Yet now, most of the organization's experienced leaders and key sources of expertise have been pushed out. When you don't know an organization or how it operates, you surround yourself with people who do. You come in ready to learn. What does he think the Mossad belongs to his father?"
The Post is aware that one reason Gofman fired the Mossad’s deputy chief A, its former analysis chief, and its former Iran desk chief, was because he believes their former plans for regime change cannot go forward as they were, and must either be heavily modified or entirely altered.
S., another former senior official, was equally in his response to N12.
“If you were taking over an organization that was struggling, one that lacked initiative, wasn't aggressive enough or had lost its operational edge, you might understand the need for such sweeping changes.
“But when you inherit an organization that's performing exceptionally well, one that carried out the pager and walkie-talkie operation and countless other missions we can't even discuss, you have to ask yourself: Maybe you're the one who doesn't understand what you're doing?"
The Mossad told the Post that Gofman aims to create his own inner circle, and that all of the position changes were natural.
“Changes in senior leadership positions are a natural part of managing any organization, particularly when a new director takes office and assumes responsibility for shaping its leadership and adapting it to the challenges and missions ahead.
The Post previously reported that Gofman’s personnel changes were attributed to the failure of the former senior officials’ plan to topple the Iranian regime. He also needed people with different skills, who could better connect to his way of thinking going forward.
While some have criticized Gofman for not waiting at least six months or so to see how operations and relations with the former Mossad high command members might pan out, he feels that he has no time to waste, the Post learned.
Gofman sees the situation with Iran as the most dynamic it has been in decades, and believes that organizational shifts will help him jump on any openings that could be to Israel’s advantage.
Civilian outsiders in Israel’s top spy agency
Sources told N12 that they were increasingly concerned with the number of civilian outsiders in highly classified forums. The report noted that some of those brought on to the Mossad were involved in failed initiatives in Gaza, such as the GHF aid campaign and the humanitarian Zone in Rafah. Some of the outsiders brought into the Mossad are right-wing businesspeople who are close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If he wants to consult with external people, that's perfectly fine," former Mossad official T. told N12.
"But no Mossad director has ever brought civilians into the forum of division heads. These are businesspeople who also have other interests, and they are exposed to the most closely guarded secrets. This has never happened."
The Mossad, for its part, argued that outsiders provide valuable insight that the agency was lacking.
"Using external advisers is an accepted management practice that helps diversify perspectives, challenge existing assumptions, and bring additional professional expertise,” a Mossad source told the Post.
“The advisers underwent the required security clearance procedures and were duly approved by all relevant authorities. They participate in specific discussions only when necessary and within their areas of expertise.”
The Post previously reported that Gofman said that virtually every new Mossad chief makes changes to department heads to assemble new talents and outlooks that are necessary for strategic shifts.
The Mossad source added to the Post that the article’s “attempt to group all these cases under a single narrative is biased and misleading.
“The Mossad's senior leadership includes highly experienced and accomplished officials, and the attempt to portray the appointments as favoritism toward associates is entirely baseless,” it added.
Voluntary migration from Gaza
The N12 report also noted that Gofman has increased efforts to look into the logistics of Palestinian's voluntary migration from Gaza.
Gofman reportedly brought back Y., a former Mossad operative who left the organization under former director David Barnea, to coordinate efforts to find countries willing to receive Gazans. Y. also sits on the senior forum of division heads.
But the voluntary migration issue is reportedly causing unrest in the organization, sources told N12.
"There are fierce opponents of this in the forum of division heads," one former senior official said. "Some call voluntary emigration a 'black flag' flying over the forum."
“The Mossad is entering areas that are partly political, on which half the country disagrees. Do you really want to be involved in processes in the Palestinian arena? I'm not talking to you about Hamas wanting to carry out a terrorist attack," T. told N12. "I'm talking to you about political processes."
The former head of the Mossad's Prisoners and Missing Persons Division, Rami Inra, said that the “voluntary emigration idea that Trump managed to put forward was a delusional idea, and it remains delusional.”
"Where will these people we want to emigrate from Gaza go? To Jordan? To the country's longer and most dangerous borders? Gazans are willing to emigrate to New York; there's no problem there. Find me a Gazan who goes to Somalia and give me a call. It's like offering a Tel Aviv resident the chance to emigrate to Gaza,” Inra added.
The Post has previously reported multiple times that there is no substance to claims regarding Gofman’s leadership on the voluntary migration project.
"The Mossad's involvement in the departure project began during the tenure of the previous Mossad director, as part of the broader defense establishment's activities. The project is coordinated and led by the National Security Council,” a Mossad source told the Post.
The Post has previously reported that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and other agencies still oversee such issues. While the Mossad sits in on intergovernmental committee meetings on the issue, and may make certain contributions, as all agencies do, it is nowhere near being at the forefront of this project.
As a general matter, it is also worth noting that despite occasional news cycles about Gazans potentially wanting to leave, such as to Somaliland, there are no signs of any large-scale emigration from the Strip.
Gofman’s Iran choices
Sources who spoke to N12 criticized Gofman’s idea to overthrow the Islamic regime in Iran with Kurdish separatist groups in the area.
"Gofman came up with a delusional idea that only someone who doesn't know the region could come up with," one senior security official told N12.
"Anyone who understands anything knows there isn't even a half-percent chance of this happening. Senior Mossad officials told him, 'Please, go ahead with it.' He tried to advance it and was thrown out on his ear."
The N12 report came out after Gofman flew to the United States last week to meet with US officials and discuss potentially resuming the war in Iran.
Trump has recently rejected Netanyahu's requests to return to fighting, Axios reported. The leaders discussed US negotiations with Iran in a phone call on October 31, during which Netanyahu reportedly pressed Trump to strike Iran immediately after the midterm elections.
According to Axios, Trump rejected the idea at that time, preferring to continue with diplomatic negotiations.
The Post previously reported that Gofman’s view would be that the old Mossad Kurdish revolt plan cannot be reconstituted and that a new plan needs to be rapidly prepared.
He also recognizes that his greatest challenge will be calibrating between advancing short-term clandestine kinetic attacks or spying operations in Iran and longer-term regime-change plans.
This is where he faces a unique fork in the road.
On the one hand, in early 2026, Israel and the US chose to assassinate Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and advance an accelerated regime change plan, which has opened up possibilities for more rapid change.
On the other hand, the failure of the early 2026 regime change plans means that there will be extra scrutiny on any such future plans, and potentially resistance from Israel’s allies, including parts of the Trump administration, to trying again anytime soon.
‘Things that are considered black to Mossad personnel are light gray to him,’ sources tell N12
Gofman has come under scrutiny because he operates in gray areas.
"Things that are black to Mossad personnel are light gray to him," T. said. "In terms of his worldview about what is permitted and what is forbidden, what goal justifies the means, he isn't there."
The report added that when asked why Netanyahu had chosen him, he answered: “because I am a schemer.”
The Mossad, however, told N12 that this is a positive attribute of Gofman’s.
"Some people find it difficult to accept a Mossad director who thinks differently, who is creative and offensive-minded,” an agency spokesperson said, as quoted by N12.
“Someone who doesn't come from the establishment. He decided to take the Mossad not only into areas involving the deployment of foreign operatives, but also to emphasize 'blue-and-white' operations and alliances with additional countries."
Follow us on GoogleSource: The Jerusalem Post · YONAH JEREMY BOB, CORINNE BAUM
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