Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday named Major General Roman Gofman as the next head of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency. Gofman, currently Netanyahu's military secretary, will succeed David Barnea when his five-year term ends in June 2026.

Born in Belarus in 1976, Gofman moved to Israel at the age of 14. He joined the military's armoured corps in 1995 and built a long career in the army. During the Gaza war triggered by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, he commanded the national infantry training centre and was seriously injured in clashes with militants in Sderot, a city near the Gaza border.

In April 2024, Gofman joined Netanyahu's office as military secretary. Like David Zini, recently appointed head of Shin Bet, Gofman comes from the military rather than

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