The Israeli prime minister has appointed David Barney as head of Mossad intelligence to replace Yossi Cohen. Who is Barney? What was his role in the agency?
This is the first time that the identity of the new Mossad head has been revealed, and the Hebrew media has referred to him in the past as “D.” They agreed.
A senior Mossad agent was appointed the new head of Israel’s intelligence service on Monday.
Israeli media reported that the man specialized in recruiting to work against Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that David Barnea, 56, who is currently the deputy head of Mossad, will replace Joseph Cohen early next month.
Cohen is stepping down after more than five years at the helm of Mossad.
During this time, he was closely involved in Israel’s efforts to reach out to the Gulf Arab states, which led to peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain last year.
Barney, who joined Mossad in 1996, served as a case officer. From 2013 until his appointment as Mossad No. 2 in 2019, he was the commander of Tzomet’s resistance unit in the organization, which Israeli media reported was working on recruiting and managing agents.
Haaretz reports that Barney, as commander of the resistance, was responsible for mobilizing forces against Iran and Hezbollah, Mossad’s top priorities.
Iran has accused Mossad of involvement in the assassinations of nuclear scientists and its military commanders, as well as sabotage of uranium enrichment facilities.