Outgoing Mossad Director David Barnea used his retirement ceremony Monday night to call on Israel and the spy agency to remain committed to toppling Iran’s Islamic regime, declaring the mission unfinished even after the recent 2026 war, the Mossad announced Tuesday morning.

Barnea, who concluded his five-year term that began in 2021, was succeeded Tuesday by Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former military secretary, in a separate inauguration ceremony at Mossad headquarters.

“I promised that Iran would never get a nuclear weapon. Today, when the Iranian regime is at its weakest, most challenged, and most wounded, this is the time to complete the job, and to pay back the regime which engraved destroying us on its flag,” Barnea said. “We are at the height of a historic and important campaign.”

The remarks marked another instance in which Barnea has elevated regime change in Tehran, rather than simply blocking Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, as the Mossad’s central objective.

“I believed, and I still believe, that a change in the reality in Iran by virtue of toppling the regime is a possible and achievable goal,” Barnea said. “Clearly this matter will require persistence, a cool head, and commitment to the mission. But this is our obligation to future generations. This mission must remain as our top priority.”

Netanyahu’s remarks at the ceremony did not focus on Iran or regime change. The prime minister instead highlighted Barnea’s role in leading the exploding-pager sabotage operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon in September 2024 and the agency’s role in the assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah that followed.

President Isaac Herzog credited Barnea with helping secure two of the three hostage return deals reached with Hamas and Qatar.

Barnea also wished his successor well, despite having publicly opposed Gofman’s appointment before the High Court of Justice. Following the court’s approval of Gofman, Barnea sent a letter to Mossad operatives instructing them to support the new director.

“I expect all of you to stand by Maj. Gen. Gofman, and to continue to support his entrance to the role in the best way possible,” Barnea wrote. “We have complex challenges ahead of us, which go to the heart of the security of the State of Israel, and the Mossad will have a central and influential role regarding them. The success of Maj. Gen. Gofman is the same as the success of the Mossad and the success of the entire State of Israel.”

Barnea repeated those principles in person to Gofman and the agency’s full staff at the handover ceremony. The Jerusalem Post reported earlier Monday that Barnea was determined to ensure a smooth changeover despite the tensions surrounding the appointment.

At his own inauguration Tuesday, Gofman told assembled Mossad staff that the Iranian Shiite axis had suffered a serious blow at the hands of the agency and Israel during the recent wars but that the work was not finished.

“You are the silent voice and the power of the State of Israel and of the Jewish nation,” Gofman said. “I enter with humility to this place, ready to rely on your knowledge and experience.”

Gofman said the strategic flip Israel had imposed on Iran “altered the balance of power for the entire region” and pledged that the Mossad would continue developing new capabilities under his leadership.

Netanyahu, addressing Gofman at the inauguration, said the new director would “remove Iran’s regime from the world” and that the regime “will not return to threaten our existence” following Israeli strikes on Iran in 2025 and early 2026.

The prime minister referenced Gofman’s biography, noting that the new Mossad chief moved to Israel from Belarus at age 14, paved his own way and finished second in a national boxing competition at 17.

“You overcame all of the obstacles. You overcame a rocky road to get the appointment,” Netanyahu said, referring to multiple High Court petitions filed to block the appointment and the opposition from Barnea.

The government approved Gofman, 49, on April 12. The appointment became official only after the High Court signed off Monday, following months of delay tied to a vetting committee led by former Supreme Court chief justice Asher Grunis.

The head of the Mossad’s Tevel foreign relations department is expected to resign in protest of the appointment of an outsider rather than an internal candidate known as “A,” who had been the leading in-house contender. “A” has since been named Mossad deputy chief, a move that could ease the transition.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)