BaltimoreJewishLife.com | David Barnea Appointed As New Mossad Head, To Replace Cohen Next Week

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Monday announced that he had cleared the way for David Barnea, the Mossad's current deputy chief, to succeed Yossi Cohen as head of the famed spy agency.

A few months ago, Mandelblit had frozen the appointment saying that it should wait for a new permanent government to be finalized.

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However, the attorney-general said on Monday that the political situation currently looks like there may be no new government in place by June 1 when Cohen steps down.

Accordingly, he said that the general legal objection for a transition government to make major appointments could be overruled out of necessity for having a new chief in place next week.

In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put Barnea forth as his nominee to replace Cohen.

The appointment was later approved by the Civil Service Advisory Committee, led by former Supreme Court justice Eliezer Goldberg.Generally the prime minister has almost complete discretion on who runs Israel's elite spy agency. Technically, the agency is a part of the prime minister's office so no cabinet or Knesset approvals are needed.

Barnea, 56 and father of four, has served as deputy chief since 2019 and beat out “A,” a former deputy chief, for the job. Read more at JPost