David or Dadi Barnea has become the 13th head of the famous spy agency, after his predecessor Yossi Cohen finished his tenure in late May. The new chief spy will serve the country for five years and will need to handle a number of security issues, including Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north.
It's been a week since Yossi Cohen, the former head of Israel's Mossad, has left his post as the country's top spy. Rumours have it that he will now be seeking a political career, potentially in the ranks of Netanyahu's Likud or setting up his own party, after going through the so-called cooling off period of three years.
Cohen will probably be remembered as one of Mossad's best chiefs. It was under his leadership that the spy agency broke into an Iranian facility in 2018 and stole half a tonne of nuclear files.
It was with Cohen at the helm that israel managed to obtain millions of face masks, test kits and other necessary equipment to cope with the raging coronavirus, at a time when other countries were struggling to stay afloat. And it was he who played a pivotal role in shaping the normalisation agreements between the Jewish state and a number of Muslim nations in 2020.
Friendly But Fierce
Now, the headache of Israel's security will be put on the shoulders of another person. David ‘Dadi' Barnea, a 56-year-old father of four, has been Cohen's deputy since 2019 and it was only natural for him to assume the post of master spy.
Just like with previous heads of the…
