New Mossad Director Meets His October 7 Rescuers

An emotional reunion took place at Mossad headquarters this morning, as incoming Mossad Director Roman Gofman met the United Hatzalah medics who helped save his life on October 7.

Moshe Weizman and Elishiv Mizrahi treated Gofman on the morning of the Hamas massacre, evacuated him under fire and helped keep him alive after he was severely wounded while fighting terrorists in southern Israel.

At the time, Gofman was a brigadier general and commander of the Tze’elim base. After the rocket sirens began on October 7, he entered the combat zone and was later shot near the Bror Hayil Junction. Around 8:30 a.m., a civilian vehicle flagged down Weizman, a United Hatzalah medic, with Gofman inside suffering from serious gunshot wounds.

Weizman transferred him into an ambulance and began an emergency evacuation, speaking with him throughout the ride in an effort to keep him conscious.

Mizrahi joined the evacuation after transporting other wounded civilians to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon using his private vehicle. He heard Weizman’s call over the radio and headed to assist.

Together, the two medics fought to stabilize Gofman until they reached the hospital.

Today, at Gofman’s inauguration ceremony as head of the Mossad, the Prime Minister’s Office and Gofman invited the medics to attend, closing a deeply personal circle that began on the burning roads of the south on October 7.

“At that moment in the ambulance, I had no idea I was treating someone who would one day lead one of Israel’s most important and sensitive organizations,” Weizman said. “We saw a wounded fighter, a heroic commander, who spoke with us throughout the journey. We had one mission: keep him conscious and save his life.”

He said seeing Gofman take office as Mossad director was “a moment beyond words.”

Mizrahi said the reunion was a reminder of the power of mutual responsibility in Israel.

“That morning, after evacuating wounded people to Barzilai Hospital in my private vehicle, I heard Moshe’s call over the radio and didn’t hesitate,” he said. “Seeing that same wounded soldier from the ambulance now entrusted with Israel’s security is an extraordinary closing of the circle.”

The meeting turned Gofman’s appointment into more than a security transition. It became a reminder of the lives saved under fire on October 7, and of the medics who entered danger not knowing whose future they were helping preserve.