Mossad chief Barnea: Campaign against Iranian regime will only end with its destruction

In a rare public appearance, Israel’s spy master and director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency, David Barnea, vowed that the vaunted agency would not rest until the Islamic Republic is destroyed.

Speaking at the Mossad’s ceremony on Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day 2026 on Tuesday, Barnea stressed that the commitment to fight the Iranian regime comes out of the imperative posed by the Holocaust: “Never again.”

“This regime that wants our destruction must cease to exist. This is our mission; we won’t ignore another existential threat,” Barnea said. “Our mission has not yet been completed.”

He also, for the first time, indirectly contradicted reports that the Mossad gave overly optimistic assessments that the regime could be toppled through the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign.

“Our commitment will be fulfilled only once the extremist regime in Iran is replaced. We did not think the mission would be completed immediately after the fighting subsided, but we certainly planned for our campaign to continue and to be expressed also in the period following the strikes in Tehran,” said Barnea.

About three weeks ago, The New York Times claimed that Barnea’s wrong assessment of the regime’s stability had been a “foundational flaw” in the campaign planning.

Before its start, Barnea allegedly presented the leaders in Washington and Jerusalem with the assessment that the Mossad would, within days of the start of the strikes, “likely be able to galvanize the Iranian opposition – igniting riots and other acts of rebellion that could even lead to the collapse of Iran’s government.”

Based on this prediction, U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were optimistic that the opening strikes against the regime’s leadership would trigger a quick collapse, the newspaper stated.

In his speech, Barnea noted that the type of hatred seen during the Holocaust, which once threatened the survival of the Jewish people, is not confined to the past and could occur again.

He said: “The Iranian threat became ever worse in front of our eyes, the eyes of the world, almost without disturbance. We warned again and again against the nuclear danger, an existential danger. We warned, again and again, about the number of ballistic missiles, which threaten the citizens of Israel everywhere in the country, and the danger posed to us by the Iranian regime.”

“In the end, we took our fate into our own hands and went into two necessary wars,” he said.

Unlike last year’s 12-Day War, there have been few news reports about Mossad operations inside Iranian territory so far.

However, Barnea added, “Operation Roaring Lion was led by the IDF with the support of the Mossad. An unprecedented attack that struck a strong blow against the Iranian regime, against those who vowed to destroy us, who hung a massive clock, counting down our existence.”

“The Mossad once again operated in the heart of Tehran, provided precise intelligence to the Air Force, and struck missiles that threatened Israeli civilians,” he said, without offering further details.

Barnea’s speech is expected to be among his last public appearances as Mossad director, as he is due to be replaced on July 2 by Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman, who is currently serving as military secretary to Prime Minister Netanyahu.