Who Is the Head of Mossad Now? Roman Gofman Explained

Roman Gofman is a career soldier, not an intelligence officer. He was born in Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union, and moved to Israel with his parents in 1990, at 14. The family settled in Ashdod, the port city south of Tel Aviv, where he still lives with his wife and their three daughters.

As a teenager he boxed and ranked among Israel’s best young fighters in his weight class. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ashkelon Academic College and a master’s in political science and national security from the University of Haifa.

He spent 31 years in uniform, almost all of it in armor. He enlisted in 1995 and joined the 188th Armored Brigade after poor eyesight kept him out of the special forces. He went on to command the 75th Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade, the Etzion Brigade in the West Bank, and then the 7th Brigade itself.

From July 2020 to September 2022 he commanded the 210th “Bashan” Division, which guards the Golan Heights and the border with Syria. In October 2022 he took over the army’s National Ground Training Center at Tze’elim in the south.

On October 7, 2023, he drove south from his home in Ashdod when Hamas attacked, fought gunmen near the Sha’ar Hanegev junction and was seriously wounded. After he recovered he served as chief of staff to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In 2024 Netanyahu made him his military secretary, and he received the rank of major general in May that year.

Two objections followed him: he had no intelligence background, and a 2022 case from his time on the Golan. Current and former security officials said the head of Mossad has traditionally come from operations or intelligence, not tank units.

The case dates from his command of the 210th Division. He approved the use of a 17-year-old civilian, Ori Elmakayes, in an Arabic-language online influence campaign run by intelligence officers. The teenager was later arrested and accused of publishing classified information. Gofman has said he did not know the boy’s age and ordered that he be given only unclassified material. The army handled the affair with command reprimands, and no criminal investigation was opened against Gofman.

On April 12, 2026, the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee approved him. Its chair, former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis, wrote a separate opinion recommending that he be disqualified; the other three members said the 2022 incident should not stop him. Several groups then petitioned the Supreme Court, which dismissed the petitions on May 31, 2026, by three votes to one.

He took office on June 2, 2026, at a ceremony at Mossad headquarters led by Netanyahu, who had named him in December 2025. He replaced David Barnea, whose five-year term began in June 2021 and ended as scheduled.

“I enter this sacred place with humility,” Gofman said on taking office. He called the blows Israel had dealt Iran and its allies a strategic turning point and said the work was not finished. Netanyahu told him he had “overcome all obstacles” and repeated that Israel would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons, a question we answer in Does Iran Have Nuclear Weapons? How Close Is Iran to a Bomb.

He carries Israel’s case for more strikes to Washington. On November 13, 2026, Gofman met Ratcliffe at a time when Netanyahu is urging Trump to return to war against Iran. Trump has said a new attack is less likely while the blockade and sanctions bite, though he has not ruled one out. Gofman was also expected to see the White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami; that meeting has not been confirmed.

His trip also became an Israeli political issue. Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who leads the Yashar party, was not told about it at his security briefing with Netanyahu on November 12, and he later said Netanyahu’s government needed “strict supervision” so it could not seek political gain from security matters. Eisenkot holds the mandate to form Israel’s next government, with 28 days that run to about December 6, as set out in Knesset Sworn In: Can Netanyahu Stop Eisenkot’s Coalition? Until a new government wins the Knesset’s confidence, Netanyahu remains prime minister and Gofman reports to him.

The prime minister does. Mossad answers directly to the prime minister’s office, and the prime minister picks its director, subject to vetting by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, which reviews a candidate’s integrity. Its opinion can be challenged in the Supreme Court, as it was in Gofman’s case.

Directors usually serve five years, as Barnea and his predecessor Yossi Cohen did. Gofman’s term, if he serves it in full, runs to June 2031.

Roman Gofman became director of Mossad on June 2, 2026. He is the agency’s 14th director. He was born in Belarus and moved to Israel in 1990, at 14. He served 31 years in the Israeli army, mostly in armored units, and commanded the 210th Division from 2020 to 2022. He was seriously wounded fighting Hamas on October 7, 2023. He was Netanyahu’s military secretary from 2024 until he took over Mossad. Israel’s Supreme Court rejected petitions against his appointment on May 31, 2026, by three votes to one. His predecessor, David Barnea, led Mossad from June 2021 to June 2026.