David Barneo, director of Mossad for some of the most wonderful success in his history, has never been intended for reconnaissance service. In his youth, he worked as a team leader in the most elite unit of the Israeli military, and then came to New York to study for a career in business.
Having earned a Master of Finance at the University of Pace, he took to work in an Israeli investment bank, and then at a brokerage firm, the first steps to a career, in which the biggest danger was an unexpected shift in the global financial markets.
Barnei’s world was postponed in November 1995, when the right-wing Israeli Israeli scored Izhak Rabbi Prime Minister for a rally. Rabin signed an Oslo agreement with Yaser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian liberation organization in 1993, and pushed the two -state decision of conflicts between Arabs and Jews.
“The murder of the rabbi shocked him like many other Israelis,” David Meydan, a senior retired Mosada, who considered Barnei teacher, reminded. He said the murder pushed Barnei at the age of 30 to reconsider everything and look for “some meaning in his life.” A friend suggested that he go to Mosad, and after passing the necessary physical and psychological trials he was accepted into the agency’s interns.
Barnei showed agility for spotted, recruitment and management agents who would work in Massada inside countries that are hostile to Israel. A year after he joined the spy agency, he became an employee of the case in his Tzomet, or Junction, Division.
Meydan said Barnei has the qualities necessary for success in the role: “emotional intelligence and empathy.” His foreign messages included years in the European capital, where Masad’s colleagues said he turned out to be magical, purposeful and determined.
The last qualities were obvious from an early age. Barnei was born in Ashkelon, Israel, in 1965. His father, Yosef Brunner, left Germany Hitler in 1933 for British Palestine and eventually served as a lieutenant colonel in the early years of Israel’s defense forces.
At the age of 14, Barnei’s parents enrolled him in a military school. He became a fanatics of fitness and still works or cycles if it is possible. When it came time to make his necessary military service, Barnei won the desired place in the saire of Matkala, the elite unit of the commander, who often sent across the Israel border to collect exploration or carry out hidden attacks or sabotage.
In the 1990s, when he started his career, Mosada was on Palestinian terrorism. Barnei, who talked to -Arabic, turned out to be agile about the treadmills in Plo and around other organizations.
He rose through the ranks and entered the Mosad leadership when he decided to collect exploration in Iran with his top priority in 2002. The change reflected the increasing concern of the secret nuclear program of Iran and its connection with the powerful regional trusted persons such as Hezbollah.
In 2019, Barneo was appointed Deputy Head of Massad and Head of the Operations Department. In the agency he acted as a supporter of aggressive operations aimed at Iranian scientists, nuclear sites and growing Iran rockets that can reach Israel.
In November 2020, Barneo was overseen Operation that killed Mohsen FakhrizadechPhysicist -Islamic General Corps of the Revolutionary Guard, which ruled the military aspects of Iran’s nuclear program. After a few months of observation by agents not Israeli, Mosad was able to find out the model of the Pharizade. There was a plan to park the Nissan truck from the road and install a unique machine gun in your bed. The weapon had a sophisticated camera and artificial intelligence software that would identify and only shot at it.
The operation was controlled by Mosad’s headquarters, north of Tel -Vaviv, where Borneo Boss, director of Yosz Cohen, joined the team center. They could see the nuclear physicist’s car approaching, and then the gun opened the fire, striking the furrow several times, sparing the wife sitting next to him.
Seven months later, Barneo was appointed head of Massada Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is the 13th person who holds the job.
In the following years, Barneo built a ferrizade on the strengths, gaining dozens of non -Israeli agents for operations in Iran. These agents played a decisive role in the Cherven airstrike in Iran’s nuclear program, determining the places of nuclear scientists and knocking out Iran’s air protection.
A colleague in the main ranks of Mosada, Chaim Tomer, said that Barnei could not be as “strategic, charismatic or bright” as some of his predecessors, but he turned out to be “top -level operator”.
Mosad’s successes with Barnei include explosive Pagers who reduce Hezbollah, murder of Iranian nuclear scientists and political leader Hamas, who visited Tehran, and raids on the Iran’s air defense and allowed Israel to blow atomic.
These missions are a great turn for the Israelis in the intelligence community, many of whom thought that after October 7, 2023, they failed to nation, which killed more than 1200 Israelis and abducted 251. This feeling of shame was felt in each agency, even as a mosad.
Mosad’s directors usually serve five years, and therefore Barneo, or Daddy, as he is known to his employees, can be replaced in the middle of 2026; But its term can be expanded as recognition of its success.
“These are the historical days for the Israeli people,” Barnei said at the Mosad’s headquarters after a short war in June, where he referred to his close cooperation with the CIA. “For decades, the Iranian threat has threatened our security due to the extraordinary cooperation between the Israeli defense forces, which headed the campaign and Mosad, which acted together with the support of our ally, the USA.”
Yosy Melman is a commentator on Israeli intelligence and documentary director. Dan was the former CBS correspondent and the presenter Mossad Files. They are co -authors of “spies against Armageddon: inside the secret wars of Israel.”
