Man wrongfully indicted for espionage says appointment of incoming Mossad director is ‘discouraging and frightening’

Ori Elmakayes says it is “discouraging and frightening” that Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman has been appointed as the next director of the Mossad, after Gofman “abandoned” him when Elmakayes was charged with severe espionage offenses for service he performed for the IDF on Gofman’s approval.

“On a personal level [I feel] mostly disappointment that someone like this can continue to be appointed and advance,” Elmakayes tells Channel 12 News in a teaser clip aired ahead of an interview to be broadcast tomorrow.

“It’s discouraging and frightening to think that someone who used me and abandoned me will be responsible for the trust of Mossad agents, and there is a chance that one day he’ll abandon them too,” says Elmakayes.

Elmakayes was held in various forms of detention for 19 months, and indicted by the State Attorney’s Office on grave security offenses before the charges were eventually dropped.

“The impact of what I went through, the memories, the trauma is forever,” Elmakayes told Channel 12.

In 2022, Gofman approved an authorized Arabic-language influence campaign while commanding the IDF’s 210th “Bashan” Regional Division in the Golan Heights, using Elmakayes, who was 17 at the time, to publish classified information online for the purpose of the operation.

As a result, Elmakayes was detained and interrogated by the Shin Bet domestic security agency, held in isolation for two months, charged with espionage offenses, and held in detention for 19 months before the charges were dropped.

Elmakayes has accused Gofman of “abandoning” after he was detained and investigated, and failed to speak up and acknowledge that he approved the operation and Elmakayes’ publication of classified information.