The Iranian Shiite axis has suffered a tough blow at the hands of the Mossad and Israel in the countries' recent wars, newly minted Mossad Director Roman Gofman said at his inauguration ceremony on Tuesday.
Gofman told the full Mossad staff present, "You are the silent voice and the power of the State of Israel and of the Jewish nation. I enter with humility to this holy place, ready to rely on your knowledge and experience," which is better than gold.
He added that the strategic flip which Israel imposed on Iran and which undermined its plans to destroy Israel has "altered the balance of power for the entire region."
However, he also said that the Mossad's work to bring down the threat from Iran is far from over.
Gofman concluded that, during his term, the Mossad would continue to act in the shadows to develop new capabilities and strategies that would surprise Israel's adversaries.
Netanyahu says Gofman will 'remove Iran's regime from the world
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Gofman at the same ceremony that he will remove Iran's Islamic regime from the world.
Netanyahu added that following the Israeli strikes on Iran in 2025 and early 2026, the regime "will not return to threaten our existence" as in the past with advancements toward a nuclear weapon or toward massive numbers of ballistic missiles.
The prime minister addressed Gofman and his history as someone who moved to Israel from Belarus at age 14, saying, "You paved your own way with 10 fingers," and later added that Gofman was a successful boxer who finished second in a competition at age 17.
Further, Netanyahu told Gofman, "You overcame all of the obstacles. You overcame a rocky road to get the appointment, " referring to multiple High Court of Justice petitions filed to block his appointment and opposition from outgoing Mossad director David Barnea.
Moreover, he said that Gofman had shown as a middle-aged colonel that he would not be held down when fighting for Israel's security, even when some of his questions to IDF high command figures led to ridicule.
In a now-famous speech in front of other mid-level officers, Gofman challenged then IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot to take a more aggressive approach to confronting Israel's adversaries.
Netanyahu said among the reasons he had picked Gofman were his ability "to see the whole picture while also diving into the details, exceptional talent at using cunning, meaning to go out of the box, and to search for something which the enemy has not thought about, but which can serve as a foundation" for a major win.
The government approved Gofman on April 12, but it only became official when the High Court approved it on Monday.
The approval came after the vetting committee of former Supreme Court chief justice Asher Grunis approved Gofman, after months of delay due to certain prior controversies.
Gofman replaces Barnea as the country's top spy chief after Barnea completed his five-year term, which started in 2021.
In December 2025, the Jerusalem Post reported that there were many forces stacked against Gofman, but also that there were some strong winds in his sails.
From the Post's interactions with him as an IDF officer and delving deeper into sources who know him, he is more formidable than many realize.
From Netanyahu's military secretary to Mossad chief
Gofman, 49, and who moved to Israel from Belarus at the age of 14, was never supposed to be the chief of the Mossad.
Had he not been appointed Mossad chief, he might or might not have moved on from being Netanyahu's military secretary to some other IDF high command role, depending on his relations with IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Eyal Zamir.
Zamir may have been suspicious of Gofman as IDF chiefs sometimes are of a prime minister's military secretary, in terms of how loyal they are to the defense or political establishment, and moved him to a non-promotion track.
Though often military secretaries obtain strong later roles, where an IDF chief gets support from the prime minister on some other issue in return for promoting the military secretary.
But all of that is now irrelevant, as Gofman will be leaping up to head a global spy service juggernaut, which will essentially make him Zamir's equal.
Incidentally, the Post understands that Gofman has Zamir's full support, who, regardless of their relations while Gofman has worked for Netanyahu, reflects fondly on working with Gofman in certain prior military roles.
There might or might not be a wave of Mossad official resignations in protest - the Mossad's head of its Tevel foreign relations department is expected to quit - that one of their own, where "A" was the leading candidate, was not given the job. It hurts him that he was not Barnea's pick and that former senior Mossad officials have come out against him as being unqualified, the Post has learned.
But every Mossad chief leads to resignations or firings, as there are always different wings of the Mossad, and each new leader has new priorities.
If some of the top-level Mossad officials resign or are fired, the second level is generally happy to take their place.
And A has become Mossad deputy chief, which could signal greater stability even when Gofman enters office.