Report: Mossad deputy chief dismissed following failed Iran operation

The deputy head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has been dismissed after more than two decades of service, according to Israeli media reports that linked the move to a failed operation aimed at destabilising the Iranian government.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported, citing two unnamed sources, that the deputy head had overseen a project launched about a year ago with a budget of one billion shekels (about $344m) and a team of hundreds of personnel.

According to the report, the operation was intended to contribute to efforts to bring down the Iranian leadership.

The sources told Channel 12 that the initiative failed to achieve its objectives.

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The report said Mossad newly appointed Director Roman Gofman ordered the dismissal of the deputy chief on Friday after 22 years of service in the agency.

Neither the Mossad nor the Israeli government publicly linked the dismissal to the reported operation.

In a statement issued on Friday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on behalf of the intelligence agency, the move was presented as part of a leadership transition following Gofman’s appointment.

The statement said the decision reflected the new director’s desire to build a senior leadership team that would assist in implementing the agency’s objectives and addressing future challenges.

The reports emerged days after the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Mossad had supplied Kurdish groups with weapons seized from Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as part of a broader effort aimed at weakening Iran.

According to that report, the CIA also participated in the initiative before it was later halted by US President Donald Trump.

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