srael’s Mossad has been plunged into an internal crisis after senior officials were reportedly dismissed over the failure of an ambitious plan aimed at destabilising Iran and triggering an uprising against the government, according to reports cited by French newspaper Le Figaro.
The controversy has also fuelled criticism of Mossad chief Roman Gofman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with some Israeli commentators arguing that senior intelligence officers are being made scapegoats for a plan that had political backing at the highest level.
According to the report, Gofman dismissed two senior Mossad officials after holding them responsible for the operation’s failure. One reportedly served as the agency’s intelligence director, while the other headed the department responsible for drawing up potential target lists inside Iran.
The plan envisioned using Israeli strikes against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps positions near the Iraqi border and in Iranian Kurdistan as the opening stage of a broader campaign to undermine the Iranian state.
Under the proposal, around 15,000 Kurdish fighters would have entered northwestern Iran under Israeli air cover, seized several cities and helped mobilise a much larger opposition force.
The eventual objective was reportedly to build a popular anti-government movement of roughly 150,000 people that could advance toward Tehran and turn military pressure into a nationwide uprising.
US opposition derails plan
Israeli media reports said Netanyahu approved the proposal before it was presented to the US administration in an effort to secure President Donald Trump’s support.
Netanyahu had publicly raised the possibility of political upheaval in Iran as fighting intensified between Iran and the United States and Israel.
But the plan was never implemented.
US intelligence officials and the State Department reportedly expressed serious doubts about its feasibility, viewing the proposal as unrealistic. One American intelligence official was cited as dismissing the plan as a farce.
Trump ultimately declined to support the operation, according to the reports, leaving Israel to pursue more limited strikes against Revolutionary Guard and Basij facilities.
Turkey was also reportedly opposed to the proposal. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was said to have been concerned that an armed Kurdish uprising inside Iran could encourage Kurdish separatist movements elsewhere in the region, including Turkey.
Mossad leadership under pressure
Israeli analysts have since questioned whether the plan had any realistic prospect of success, arguing that Mossad overestimated the political effect of Israeli air strikes while underestimating the resilience of Iran’s security institutions.
The dismissal of the two officials has generated further controversy.
Critics argue that responsibility should not rest solely with officers who developed the plan when Netanyahu and senior intelligence leadership were reportedly involved in approving it.
Israeli journalist Ben Caspit wrote in Maariv that responsibility for such a failure should ultimately lie with those at the top of the command structure. He warned that punishing subordinates for unsuccessful proposals could discourage intelligence officials from presenting unconventional ideas in the future.
Gofman himself is also facing mounting scrutiny inside Israel.
He took over as Mossad chief in June after previously serving as Netanyahu’s military secretary. Israeli media reports have cited intelligence sources questioning his experience within the espionage community and alleging that his close relationship with Netanyahu played a major role in his rise.
The dispute has therefore evolved beyond the failure of a single operation, raising broader questions over decision-making, accountability and political influence inside one of Israel’s most powerful security institutions.