Why are officials trying to throw both the Mossad and its new director, Roman Gofman, into the Gaza predicament, where the spy agency has little involvement and no expertise?
Last week, Channel 14 made a report based on unnamed diplomatic sources, which often refers to top Israeli officials. Channel 14 said that new National Security Council (NSC) Chief Shmuel Ben Ezra had held an inter-agency meeting to advance “voluntary” migrations of Gazans from the Gaza Strip.
According to this report, a key decision at the meeting was that the Mossad and Gofman would take the lead on the issue.
The article also noted that the meeting took place amid the backdrop of Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi’s recent visit to Israel. This implies that part of the strengthened ties between the two countries may involve Somaliland being willing to accept an unidentified number of Palestinians.
The Jerusalem Post investigated the issue and found that it was deemed a mix of fragmental nonsense put together from loose connections to actual events. At the time, no decision had been made about which party would take responsibility for the issue.
Although there had been a meeting with the NSC chief on the issue, it had been a preliminary meeting to detail the various problems that would need to be addressed. In no way was this meeting intended to be a decisive one.
Already on Monday, Innovation, Science, and Technology Minister Gila Gamliel went on record repeating what the anonymous sources had said earlier, this time to Channel 7.
Once again, she said that Gofman and the Mossad would take the lead on coordinating a project to facilitate voluntary Palestinian migration from the Gaza Strip. Despite Gamliel’s public statement on the issue, the Post understands that nothing has changed since June 25.
Meetings are still being held on the issue. The Mossad, like various other agencies, partakes in these meetings, but no leading party has been decided yet.
The logic behind the push
The logic behind Gofman’s involvement is that he has already been part of special Gaza projects in late 2025, such as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) project to provide food directly to Gazans without Hamas’s intervention or control.
Notably, the Mossad works with African countries like Somaliland on sensitive issues below the radar. This is in contrast to the Foreign Ministry’s projects, which require far more transparency and scrutiny.
Other factors serve to contrast the Mossad’s involvement in Gaza, however. The Shin Bet is the agency with the highest level of expertise, and has consistently conducted infiltrations into Gaza.
The IDF is the next party with expertise on Gaza-related issues. Although the IDF’s Unit 504 left Gaza to the Shin Bet from 2012-2023, it has since returned to Gaza in droves, following the events of October 7.
The Mossad, however, had little involvement with Gaza before October 7, and that has not changed much in recent years.
The Mossad’s traditional missions are: combating Iran’s nuclear weapons program; countering international terror against Israel; assisting in special covert projects in neighboring countries like Syria and Lebanon, where it is harder for the IDF and the Shin bet to operate freely; carrying out covert negotiations with countries with whom Israel has no public diplomatic relations; and, in some instances, helping to protect Jews worldwide. The Mossad has, notably, carried out operations to smuggle Jews from Ethiopia and other countries to Israel.
An entirely new mission for Mossad
But the Mossad has not been involved in getting foreign persons, let alone those from hostile areas like Gaza, to leave for third-party countries. That sort of project would require heavy resources and could potentially divert attention away from Iran, which contrasts with Gofman’s plans to advance regime change.
Also, that kind of mission is likely doomed from the outset. It will run into opposition and anger from the US, which has snubbed the idea for most of 2025-2026 after briefly exploring it in early 2025.
Why saddle the Mossad with a ticking time bomb? That mission, as well as its inevitable failure, will harm its dealings with the CIA and other US entities, and will interfere with other critical issues (such as Iran).
It is doubtful that Gofman is in favor of taking on this mission. Rather, it is far more likely that senior political officials are trying to force him into it despite his objections.
There is another explanation here: the Mossad isn’t expected to take on such a mission, and the public leaks are intended to get voters excited before the October elections. In fact, scoring political points before elections is likely more important to certain figures than the impact of tossing Gofman’s name around.
Jewish settlements returning to Gaza?
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich once again spoke of returning Jewish settlements to Gaza, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that the idea is dead on arrival.
If Netanyahu ordered him to take on such a mission, Gofman would likely have to comply due to how the chain of command works. Despite this, the new Mossad chief has already demonstrated his independent thinking since taking office.
Weeks ago, when Israel attacked in Beirut against objections from the US, the Post understands that Gofman also opposed the strike.
The Israeli attack on Beirut led to a series of additional exchanges between Israel and Iran. Some say they led the US to rush into a bad deal with Iran, as it has lost trust in Israel’s discretion.
It remains to be seen whether Gofman will be burdened with a role that he likely doesn’t want. Until now, it seems he has avoided its grasp despite multiple media leaks suggesting otherwise.