Allied Intelligence — 2026-05-22

Netanyahu Accused of Appointing Loyalists to Lead Shin Bet and Mossad Amid Former Officials Backlash

BLUFGofman is likely to take Mossad command by August 31, and his pairing with Zini at Shin Bet hands Netanyahu loyalist control over both services as judicial and institutional checks collapse.

Netanyahu replaced the Shin Bet chief he fired for refusing to intervene in his corruption trial with Major General David Zini; NPR reports the new chief complied with the same request, and a court challenge by over a hundred former officials failed 1. He also named military adviser Roman Gofman as Mossad chief; Gofman's nomination is before Israel's Supreme Court over allegations he ran a teenage Israeli as a covert source and concealed it while Israeli authorities held him on espionage charges for more than a year 12. Three Supreme Court justices signaled Tuesday they will not intervene, citing insufficient evidence of direct knowledge, and outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea publicly opposed the appointment 2. NPR also reports that under Zini the Shin Bet reversed its decades-long opposition to the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism 1.

Analysis
Three Supreme Court justices declined Tuesday to intervene, citing insufficient evidence of direct responsibility, and with the vetting committee and IDF Chief Zamir both endorsing Gofman, all plausible legal pathways to block the appointment are now closed. Gofman is likely to formally assume Mossad command by August 31. High confidence rests on the court's unambiguous posture and the absence of any remaining institutional veto over Netanyahu's appointment authority, though both primary accounts were published the same day without access to closed judicial deliberations. Gofman's outsider military standing may enable a more aggressive post-October 7 organizational overhaul than a career insider constrained by institutional culture would undertake. Allied services must now decide whether the Elmakayes precedent warrants revising intelligence-sharing protocols to account for source protection standards.

2 sources