Reshaping the Mossad: Inside Roman Gofman’s world of spies, Iran, and high-stakes strategy

Roman Gofman, who took office as Mossad chief on June 2, 2026, is reshaping the agency's strategy with a focus on Iran. He fired three top officials—the deputy chief, analysis chief, and Iran desk chief—because their regime-change plans cannot proceed as they were. Gofman faces calibrating short-term kinetic operations against Iran versus longer-term regime change efforts, while also expanding the Mossad's role in tracking Iran's ballistic missile program and social media influence campaigns.

Roman Gofman, who took office as Mossad chief on June 2, 2026, is reshaping the agency's strategy with Iran at the center. He fired three top officials—the deputy chief, analysis chief, and Iran desk chief—because their regime-change plans cannot proceed as they were and must be heavily modified or entirely altered. Gofman faces a unique fork in the road: Israel and the US assassinated Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in early 2026 and pursued accelerated regime change, which opened possibilities but also failed, creating extra scrutiny on future plans. Gofman recognizes that his greatest challenge will be calibrating between advancing short-term clandestine kinetic attack or spying operations in Iran versus longer-term regime change efforts. Resources are not endless, and choices must be determined. The Mossad's role in tracking Iran's ballistic missile program may grow given the regime's direct attacks on Israel in recent years. Gofman will likely adopt a variation of the 'death by a thousand cuts' strategy with more aggressive short-term moves mixed in to accelerate regime change. He views Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iran as mostly Iran, informing multifront strategic plans. He may expand Mossad's social media influence campaigns against Iran. The article notes Gofman was the most senior wounded official of the October 7 war, suggesting he will be willing to take risks his predecessors might have backed away from.