Outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea oversaw unprecedented operational expansion, former official says

Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency reached unprecedented operational capabilities under the leadership of its outgoing director, David Barnea, according to former senior Mossad official Ilan Rom.

“The purpose was to remake the system. Before, the Mossad could perform great operations, but only one or two at a time, such as the “Folders Operation” [the agency’s seizure of Iran’s nuclear archives in 2018], and they would take many years, a big time investment, many people working on them, and with the very high standards of the Mossad,” Rom told The Jerusalem Post.

Rom, who served in the Mossad for 25 years and retired with a rank comparable to brigadier general, focused on what he described as Mossad Director David Barnea's "revolution" in reshaping parts of the agency.

He said the reorganization enabled the Mossad to carry out a far greater number of complex operations in a shorter period than had previously been possible.

"With the new structure of the organization, we could carry out – and have carried out – dozens of operations at the same time, like we did during Operation Rising Lion [June 2025]," Rom explained.

He credited Barnea, known by the nickname "Dadi," with driving the transformation.

"There is an attribute of Dadi that he always gets 120% out of every person – every sub-commander and every agent, often much more than they thought they could do themselves," Rom said.

The retired Mossad official added that Barnea achieves those operational results by leading through personal example.

“He works really hard to get the maximum accomplished. He pushes; he is super capable of showing people how you get to your potential to build an organization in a way which supports these intensive activities.”

Israeli intelligence services have traditionally been known for their ability to improvise and innovate. However, Rom argued that the country's increasingly complex security challenges require a greater emphasis on long-term strategic planning.

“You need to plan before. This takes time and years until new ideas can actually work. He also has this ability: to foresee trends in advance, then understand what is needed, then understand how to do it, meaning how to direct actions to accomplish the changes, and then the command capability to lead this forward. It is always hard. He has all three capabilities: identifying the issue in advance, how to address it, and the power to implement 'the changes.'”

Under the leadership of Barnea, Mossad played a central role in the efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. At a recent change of command ceremony, Barnea stressed that it is “our duty to future generations.”

“I pledged that Iran will never have nuclear weapons,” Barnea said. “Today, when the Iranian regime is weakened, challenged and more vulnerable, it is time to complete the task and to get revenge on the regime that has set its sights on destroying us.”

Assessing Mossad’s capabilities, Rom emphasized that Israel’s enemies need to keep being surprised and unprepared.  

“There is no Mossad operation that is not ground-breaking. If it is not ground-breaking, then it is not interesting. Enemies always need to be surprised. Operations must be different and on the border of what is imaginable and doable. This is the role of the Mossad – to pull off these operations.”

Mossad’s expanded operational reach enables the organization to become a crucial partner to the IDF during the 12-day war against Iran in 2025 and June's Operation Roaring Lion, when the U.S. and Israel degraded much of Iran’s military capabilities and eliminated most of its top leadership, including the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“The Mossad figured out what to do during a big war. Usually, it is the IDF that needs to win wars, not the Mossad. Both during the 12 Day War [in 2025] and during Operation Roaring Lion [in 2026], the Mossad substantially helped with the IDF’s efforts,” Rom said.

“The synergy has had a substantial impact. We still have the air force, and the Mossad is smaller. But the return on the investment is very high compared to its size. The Mossad brings forth lots of power and cunning in war.”