April 13, Pozirk. Israel’s senior civil service appointments committee, chaired by Judge Asher Grunis, approved the appointment of Belarusian-born Major General Roman Gofman as the new head of the Mossad intelligence service yesterday, the agency said on X.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who nominated Gofman for the position in December 2025, backed the appointment. Gofman is expected to take office on June 2 for a five-year term.
Born in Homiel region’s Mazyr in 1976, Gofman repatriated to Israel with his parents in 1990. He will replace the current Mossad chief David Barnea, who is set to complete his five-year tenure in June 2026.
Many prominent Israelis were born in Belarus, including Presidents Chaim Weizmann and Zalman Shazar; Prime Ministers Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres, as well as Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew.
