Tension and mass resignations in the Israeli Mossad What's the story?

Three heads of departments equivalent to the rank of major general in the army announced their resignations from the Israeli Mossad during the past weeks, while a fourth senior official is considering announcing this soon.

Hebrew media said that the Israeli Mossad has witnessed a state of tension during the past weeks, after three heads of departments equivalent to the rank of major general in the army announced their resignations, while a fourth senior official is considering announcing this soon.

The new organizational changes prompted these officers to resign, following the appointment of David Barnea (Daddy) as the new head of the Mossad, as he began his duties on the first of last June.

Barnea was appointed head of the Mossad's intelligence and special operations service, succeeding Yossi Cohen, who headed the agency for five years, according to Hebrew Channel 13.

The channel said that "the Israeli foreign intelligence service is witnessing at this stage a wave of resignations of senior officials," which was described as an "earthquake."

The channel added: "So far, three heads of departments have resigned from their positions, while a fourth is considering submitting his resignation soon, and it is expected that they will be followed by four deputy heads of departments."

And she continued, "All of this stems from organizational changes initiated by (Barnea), at the heart of which is the closure of departments, the merging of other departments with each other, and the opening of new departments."

Among the resigned were “the head of the (Tzomt) department, which is responsible for activating the clients, the head of the technological department, another responsible for combating (terrorism), and another responsible for a (sensitive) technology department,” according to the Hebrew channel.

The current head of the Mossad was appointed to his position by the former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the retirement of the former head of the service, Yossi Cohen, after years of working in the service, moving in several positions.

Cohen is 56 years old and works in the elite Sarit Matakal unit. He joined the Mossad in 1966 and was the commander of special units in Israel and abroad.