Allied Intelligence — 2026-08-08

Mossad Chief Fires Two Senior Officials Behind Failed Iran Regime-Change Plan

BLUFRemoving the plan's architects while keeping them in the agency contains accountability inside Mossad, shielding Netanyahu from a political reckoning over the failed Iran campaign.

Mossad Director Roman Gofman removed the heads of the agency's Intelligence Directorate and Iran Division, Channel 12 News reported Thursday, corroborated by Times of Israel, Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post and The National 1234. The Intelligence Directorate chief had held the post since December, and neither official was named, though Channel 12 identified both as architects of the plan to topple Iran's regime 134. Security sources told the network the departures were by mutual agreement amid a wider Mossad reorganization, with both expected to remain at the agency in other roles 14. A source cited by Haaretz disputed that account, saying Gofman, a former Netanyahu military secretary who backed the regime-change plan, ordered the dismissals to help the prime minister distance himself from its failure 23. The plan, a joint Mossad-CIA proposal presented to President Trump, envisioned Kurdish ground forces advancing into Iran under Israeli and US air cover to install former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as regime successor, and collapsed amid Turkish pressure and Kurdish reluctance following Israeli-US strikes on Revolutionary Guard positions in Iranian Kurdistan 134.

Analysis
Mossad removed the Intelligence Directorate and Iran Division chiefs, tying the agency's first accountability for the failed regime-change plan to internal ranks rather than the political leadership that approved it; both retain unnamed roles, limiting visibility into the reshuffle. Channel 12 is the sole primary source, with Times of Israel, Haaretz, Jerusalem Post and The National amplifying without independent confirmation. Haaretz's account that Gofman ordered the removals to shield Netanyahu from the plan's failure conflicts with security sources' claim of mutual departure amid routine reorganization, though the shakeup could equally reflect Gofman consolidating control after already ousting his deputy early in his tenure. How that dispute resolves will color assessments of Mossad's leadership bench for any renewed covert push on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

6 sources