IDF Maj-Gen. Roman Gofman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nominee to head the Mossad, was approved on Monday to lead the agency, clearing the way for him to take office.
The Monday decision by the High Court of Justice comes one day ahead of Gofman’s transition ceremony where he is set to step into the role on Tuesday.
The petitions against the appointment were rejected by a majority vote, with Justices Ofer Grosskopf and Alex Stein in the majority, and Justice Dafna Barak-Erez surmizing that there remain open-ended questions regarding Gofman’s conduct that should be investigated.
Upon the High Court’s approval of Gofman, outgoing Mossad Director David Barnea, who had publicly opposed his appointment, sent a letter to all Mossad operatives saying, “I expect that all of you to stand by Major General Gofman, and to continue to support his entrance to the role [of Mossad chief] in the best way possible.”
“We have complex challenges in front 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 Major General Gofman is the same as the success of the Mossad and the success of the entire State of Israel,” he continued.
Barnea concluded, “Tomorrow, June 2, 2026, we will conduct the ceremony to change over the command at Mossad headquarters, in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
The Jerusalem Post understands that Barnea is firm that, despite his opposition prior to the High Court ruling and obvious tensions between himself and Gofman, given his respect for the ruling, he will do all he can to ensure that the changeover ceremony will run smoothly as in past such ceremonies.
The prime minister first announced his intention to appoint Gofman, his military secretary, to the senior role, in December. Netanyahu approved Gofman’s appointment in April, after the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, headed by former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis greenlit it. The committee vets candidates for Israel’s most senior public positions, examining whether there is any issue of integrity, conduct, or propriety that could make an appointment improper.
The appointment faced intense legal hurdles along the way: challenging it were a series of petitions centered on the Elmakayes affair.
Details on the Elmakayes affair
Ori Elmakayes, a former IDF soldier who was 17 at the time of the affair when it took place in 2022, argued that Gofman had acted improperly in connection with an unauthorized IDF-linked influence operation, in which Elmakayes was allegedly used to publish information on a Telegram channel as part of an influence effort directed at Israel’s enemies.
Elmakayes was later arrested by the Shin Bet on suspicion of serious security offenses, but the case against him was eventually dropped after the alleged IDF connection emerged.
The issue reached the High Court of Justice. After reviewing the petitions, the court ordered the committee to reconvene and examine the Elmakayes material before Gofman’s planned entry into office. The court’s intervention did not cancel the appointment, but it required the committee to revisit whether the allegations affected Gofman’s suitability for one of Israel’s most sensitive security posts.
The committee then held additional hearings, heard from Elmakayes for the first time, and reviewed new material, including a sealed affidavit from Brig.-Gen. “G,” the head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate’s Operational Activation Division, regarding the IDF’s inquiry into the incident.
A majority of the committee ultimately reaffirmed its support for Gofman, saying the new material strengthened rather than weakened its position. Grunis dissented, saying further examination was still needed.
