Mossad Director Roman Gofman has removed two of the spy agency’s most senior officials from their posts as he moves to reshape Israel’s intelligence service following the war with Iran and the failure of an ambitious plan aimed at helping topple the Islamic Republic.

According to a Channel 12 report, the officials headed the Mossad’s intelligence directorate and its Iran division, placing both at the heart of the agency’s operations against Tehran. The two were reportedly among the architects of a written plan designed to exploit Iran’s ethnic minorities, fuel mass anti-regime demonstrations and ultimately bring down the government in Tehran.

The reported blueprint went far beyond airstrikes. One major component envisioned Israeli attacks on IRGC positions near Iran’s border with Iraq, clearing a route for thousands of Kurdish fighters to enter northwestern Iran. Israeli planners reportedly believed local Kurds could swell the force into a much larger movement, while unrest elsewhere in the country could draw millions into the streets and threaten the regime’s control.

Another extraordinary element, previously reported by The New York Times, involved former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Israel allegedly spent years developing contacts with the former hardliner as a possible figure in a post-regime political order, despite his long history of vicious anti-Israel rhetoric and Holocaust denial. Ahmadinejad’s office has denied the reported relationship.

Parts of the broader strategy were put into motion during the war, with Israeli and American forces heavily striking Iranian military, security and regime infrastructure. But the Kurdish component never fully materialized. Reports have pointed to U.S. hesitation, Turkish opposition, leaks surrounding the operation and reluctance among Kurdish factions as factors that ultimately stopped the plan.

The personnel changes do not necessarily mean the two officials are being expelled from the Mossad. Security sources told Channel 12 that their departures from their current posts were being carried out by mutual agreement as part of a broader organizational restructuring, and both are expected to remain in the agency in other positions. The same sources said Gofman had clashed with them from the beginning of his tenure.

The move adds to a major reshuffling already underway under Gofman. Shortly after taking command of the Mossad, he ended the tenure of the agency’s deputy director and later appointed a new deputy and head of operations from within the organization. Gofman, a former IDF general and Netanyahu’s military secretary, entered the Mossad from outside the agency and has moved quickly to build his own leadership team.

Despite the failed effort to trigger the collapse of Iran’s government, regime change remains deeply intertwined with Israel’s long-term Iran strategy. Outgoing Mossad chief David Barnea publicly told Gofman upon leaving office that replacing the Iranian regime remained a mission Israel should ultimately complete.

The latest shake-up suggests that while Israel has not abandoned the objective, the Mossad under Gofman is reassessing how it intends to pursue one of the most ambitious and consequential intelligence challenges in the agency’s history.