Advisory committee approves Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as Mossad chief despite stinging dissent from Chairman Grunis

Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman’s appointment as Mossad Director faces a stinging dissent from Chairman Asher Grunis over ethical flaws in the Uri Elmakayes affair.

By: AXL Media

Published: Apr 18, 2026, 4:08 AM EDT

Source: Information for this report was sourced from Israel Hayom

The Ratification of a Historic Security Shift

The appointment of Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next Director of the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations marks a significant departure from traditional Mossad leadership protocols. On April 12, 2026, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed that the Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments had approved Gofman to succeed David Barnea. Gofman, who was born in Belarus and immigrated to Israel in 1990, currently serves as Netanyahu’s military secretary and was seriously wounded during the October 7, 2023, attacks. Despite backing from IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the decision has ignited an internal debate over Gofman’s lack of a traditional intelligence background and his personal alignment with the Prime Minister.

The Grunis Dissent and the Elmakayes Affair

In a rare move, the committee's chairman, Asher Grunis, remained in the minority and authored a critical dissent arguing that Gofman is unfit for the role. The core of Grunis’s objection centers on a 2022 incident involving Uri Elmakayes, who was 17 at the time. While Gofman was commanding the IDF’s 210th "Bashan" Division, his subordinates reportedly recruited the minor to run an Arabic-language Telegram channel for psychological influence operations. Grunis characterized the use of a minor as a "serious flaw from an ethical and moral standpoint," asserting that as division commander, Gofman bears ultimate responsibility for this violation of protocol.

Accusations of Dishonesty and Institutional Abandonment

The dissenting opinion further alleges that Gofman engaged in a pattern of obfuscation when military authorities began investigating the Elmakayes case. Grunis wrote that Gofman and his subordinates failed to provide "precise answers" when asked directly if the division was handling the youth. The situation escalated when the Shin Bet arrested Elmakayes on suspicion of passing classified material; Grunis noted that Gofman’s division was obligated to inform the authorities that they were the source of the material but failed to do so. This silence during Elmakayes’s subsequent 18 months of detention and legal proceedings was described by Grunis as a significant breach of integrity.