Outgoing Mossad head David Barnea completed his five-year term yesterday (Monday) in a ceremony held at the organization's headquarters, in preparation for the inauguration of Major General Roman Goffman.
In his farewell speech, Barnea referred to the campaign against Iran and argued that the current situation in the Middle East should be exploited to overthrow the regime in Tehran.
Barnea emphasized: "The Iranian regime is weakened, challenged and more vulnerable, and it is time to break away from it.".
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He added that changing the reality in Iran by replacing the regime is an achievable goal, and defined the task as "a duty towards future generations that must remain at the top of the priority list.".
In his speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attributed direct responsibility to Barnea for some of the key actions in the last war.
Netanyahu noted that the outgoing Mossad head stood firm when he pushed for approval of the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, and when he demanded that the operation to blow up the pagers in Lebanon be carried out. According to Netanyahu, the severe damage to Hezbollah's leadership as a result of these actions also led to the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria.
For his part, Barnea thanked Prime Minister Netanyahu for approving the operations that allowed the organization to maximize its capabilities during the fighting.
Alongside the military and intelligence campaign, Barnea emphasized the organization's involvement in efforts to free the kidnapped, defining their return as "a first-rate moral and ethical obligation." He added that the sense of satisfaction from the return of the kidnapped surpasses any other operational achievement he has commanded.
President Yitzhak Herzog spoke and explained that the Mossad under Barnea built extensive intelligence partnerships and deepened its operational capabilities in Iran.
According to him, these actions helped return the initiative to Israel after the October 7 attack.
At the end of the event, Barnea turned to his replacement, Roman Gofman, and expressed confidence in the organization's ability to continue carrying out operations deep inside enemy territory under his command. However, he did not apologize to him for the letter he sent to the Supreme Court justices.
