Who is David Barnea, the head of the Mossad and the man lauded by Israelis as a hero for playing a pivotal role in altering the history and future of the Middle East?

Barnea was born in 1965. His story is one of tenacity, hope, and courage. His parents were Holocaust survivors whose experiences instilled in him not only a sense of duty but also national pride. Barnea joined Mossad in 1996, spending over a decade in human intelligence operations, rising to become Mossad’s European station chief, where he headed the agency’s most vital operations. After returning to Israel, he served as the deputy chief of Mossad’s Keshet unit, a division well-known for its expertise in surveillance, break-ins, bugging, and sabotage across hostile and non-hostile territories.

Barnea gained deep knowledge about covert operations that have made Mossad a feared and effective intelligence agency over the decades. In 2019, Barnea was named to run all global Mossad operations and became its deputy director.

He played an important role, among other things, in helping the CIA execute the daring 2020 operation that assassinated Iranian general Qassem........

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