Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman, the military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and one of the most senior officers wounded on October 7, is expected to become the next director of the Mossad in June 2026. Netanyahu announced Thursday that he intends to appoint Gofman, calling him “the most worthy and suitable candidate for the role.”
Gofman’s path to the top of Israel’s security establishment began far from the country’s elite units he once hoped to join.
Immigrant childhood and a turn to boxing
Born in Belarus, Gofman immigrated to Israel with his parents in 1990 and grew up in Ashdod. He has spoken openly about the alienation and violence he experienced as a student, a period that drove him to boxing. He became one of Israel’s top-ranked youths in his weight category. In a 2022 interview with Yediot Ahronot, he said his coach instilled the motto that shaped his approach to command: “When a threat or challenge comes, you don’t close your eyes.”
Falling in love with tanks
Gofman enlisted in 1995 to the 188th Armored Brigade after being disqualified from special forces due to his eyesight. What began as a disappointment became a passion.
“The moment I rode in a tank for the first time with my head out and felt its power, I fell in love,” he told Yediot Ahronot.
He rose through the ranks of the Armored Corps, completing tank commander and officer training, and later led Battalion 75 of the 7th Armored Brigade. He served as operations officer of the Ga’ash Formation (Division 36), commanded the Etzion Regional Brigade during a wave of stabbing attacks, and eventually became commander of the 7th Brigade.
As a brigade commander, he publicly urged then–Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot to use ground forces more assertively. Speaking at Eisenkot’s final senior command conference, Gofman said the army had fallen into a “very problematic pattern” of avoiding ground operations and warned that sidelining ground units eroded soldiers’ desire to fight. He also rebuked tank crews under his command in a sharply worded letter stressing that the brigade had “no place for passivity or fear.”
A controversial episode
After graduating from the National Defense College, Gofman was appointed commander of the 210th “Bashan” Division, responsible for the Syrian border. During his tenure, Haaretz revealed that he approved two intelligence officers’ decision to use a 17-year-old civilian, Uri Elmakias, in an unauthorized influence effort. The teen received classified information and was asked to post it online. Almakaies was arrested, held for about two months, and later convicted of espionage-related offenses, though Gofman and his subordinates were not criminally investigated. The army issued command reprimands following an internal review.
Fighting on October 7
Gofman took command of the National Ground Training Center in October 2022. A year later, on the morning of Hamas’ assault on communities near the Gaza border, he was at home in Ashdod. After receiving the first reports of the attack, he drove south, encountered Hamas gunmen and exchanged fire, killing several. He was seriously wounded in his limbs and evacuated to a hospital.
His first word, he later recalled, was “We failed.” He then told those around him, “We fought like lions and stopped them. Now we go forward.”
Following his recovery, Gofman served as chief of staff to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. In April 2024 he became Netanyahu’s military secretary and was promoted to major general. He has since been dispatched to security and diplomatic meetings in Moscow and to diplomatic talks in Greece. Within the military he is known by the nickname “the galloping horse,” a reference to his relentless drive toward contact and decisive action.
Gofman lives in Ashdod with his wife and their three daughters. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Ashkelon Academic College and a master’s degree in political science and national security from the University of Haifa.
Broad coalition praise
Netanyahu’s request to appoint Gofman was submitted Thursday to the senior appointments advisory committee headed by former Supreme Court President Asher Grunis. The prime minister said Gofman had shown “courage, responsibility and rare professional ability” and added, “He ran from his home to fight Hamas terrorists and was seriously wounded. That says everything about the man.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz praised Gofman as “a true fighter and a commander with extensive operational and intelligence experience.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called him “a hero of Israel,” and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Gofman was among the small group of senior commanders who repeatedly warned before October 7 about the danger of relying on a “false quiet.”