{"id":67269,"date":"2026-04-14T19:35:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/67269\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T19:35:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:35:15","slug":"roman-gofman-israels-new-spymaster-is-a-netanyahu-aide-who-believed-war-with-iran-would-topple-the-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/67269\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Gofman, Israel\u2019s new spymaster, is a Netanyahu aide who believed war with Iran would topple the regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The incoming director of Israel\u2019s Mossad<\/a> spy agency believed a war with Iran<\/a> could trigger the swift collapse of the regime, according to three Israeli sources familiar with internal consultations \u2013 an assessment that has failed to materialize after more than 40 days of fighting.\n <\/p>\n

\n Roman Gofman, currently serving as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s<\/a> military secretary, told the Israeli leader in planning discussions that the Iranian regime could be toppled, a view shared by the agency he is set to lead, and one that proved overly optimistic.\n <\/p>\n

\n Gofman is slated to assume the post in June for a five-year term, replacing David Barnea, who also believed that a war could topple the Islamic Republic.\n <\/p>\n

\n Barnea, who has led the Mossad since 2021, played a key advisory role in the lead-up to the US-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28 that began the war, according to two Israeli security sources. The New York Times reported that Barnea pitched Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump<\/a> on the idea that assassinations of Iran\u2019s leaders, followed by a series of intelligence-led operations, could mobilize the country\u2019s opposition and spark protests, riots, and acts of defiance that would lead to the collapse of the regime.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe Mossad\u2019s position was that regime change is a likely outcome and that they can make it happen,\u201d one of the Israeli security sources told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had reservations and was more nuanced in its goals, the source added, instead advocating aiming to weaken the regime and create the conditions for a public revolt. \u201cThe Mossad made a series of promises it didn\u2019t deliver,\u201d the source said.\n <\/p>\n

\n The killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening wave of attacks and the subsequent US-Israeli destruction of Iran\u2019s military and government infrastructure have so far failed to bring about any meaningful change in Tehran\u2019s leadership or hardline positions. The new Supreme Leader \u2013 the son of the slain ruler \u2013 is believed to be more hardline than his father and closer to Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.\n <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\n Barnea, in his first public statement since the beginning of the war, said Israel\u2019s mission in Iran was incomplete. \u201cWe certainly planned for our campaign to continue and to manifest itself even in the period following the strikes in Tehran,\u201d he said, speaking on Israel\u2019s Holocaust Remembrance Day Tuesday. \u201cOur commitment will be fulfilled only when the extremist regime is replaced.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Gofman, 49, was born in Belarus and immigrated to Israel at the age of 14. He spent over three decades in the IDF Armored Corps, holding numerous frontline and command positions.\n <\/p>\n

\n Severely wounded in battle on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, he has served since his recovery as Netanyahu\u2019s top military aide, and he was involved in all of the key strategic and operational decisions around the region over the past two years, including in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza and Syria. As a Russian speaker, he is also Netanyahu\u2019s principle point of contact with the Kremlin.\n <\/p>\n

\"Roman<\/p>\n

\n The prime minister announced his intention to appoint Gofman to the Mossad in December, choosing him over other candidates from within the spy agency. Though not unheard of in Israel, it is unusual to pick a spymaster from the military, not within the agency\u2019s own ranks.\n <\/p>\n

\n When Netanyahu appointed Gofman, he described him as an \u201coutstanding, bold and creative officer who demonstrated out-of-the-box thinking and impressive resourcefulness throughout the war.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Veteran defense analyst Amir Oren told CNN that Gofman has little to no experience in the specialized skills needed in the Mossad, including intelligence gathering, special operations, and liaising with other spy agencies. Oren described these as skills \u201cin which one must be well versed for years and probably decades before daring to command others.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Instead, Oren says that Gofman, who isn\u2019t known to be an English speaker, was picked because of his loyalty to Netanyahu.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThere is a unanimous appraisal by serving as well as veteran military and security professionals that these appointments were not intended to benefit the security of Israel but rather help Netanyahu personally and politically,\u201d Oren said.\n <\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

\n The process of appointing Gofman, however, was delayed for months over a controversy stemming from a 2022 incident in which Gofman \u2013 then commander of an IDF regional division \u2013 allegedly used a teenager to publish classified information as part of an online influence operation. The teenager was later detained by the security services for an extended period and accused of publishing classified material, until the indictment was dropped after it was revealed that his activity was authorized.\n <\/p>\n

\n The Times of Israel has cited Goffman as saying he wasn\u2019t aware of the person\u2019s age at the time, and that he had only ordered that he be given non-classified information.\n <\/p>\n

\n The teenager, now 21 years old, has become one of Gofman\u2019s most vocal critics and has appealed to the Supreme Court against his appointment.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN reached out to Gofman for comment through the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office and the IDF.\n <\/p>\n

\n Gofman\u2019s appointment reflects a broader effort by Netanyahu to reshape Israel\u2019s security establishment in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, widely considered as Israel\u2019s gravest security failure. Since then, nearly the entire top tier of the country\u2019s security leadership has resigned, been ousted or reached the end of their tenure, including the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, and the directors of military intelligence, and the Shin Bet.\n <\/p>\n

\n With Barnea\u2019s expected departure and Gofman\u2019s appointment, Netanyahu will effectively stand as the last senior Israeli official still in position from the day Israel suffered the deadliest attack in its history on October 7, 2023.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The incoming director of Israel\u2019s Mossad spy agency believed a war with Iran could trigger the swift collapse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-67269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-israel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116404743195890634","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}