Ex-Mossad Chief Barnea: We Released Agents' Video To Trigger 21,000 Arrests In Iran

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Former Mossad chief David Barnea revealed at the Priority Summit conference on Thursday that Israel deliberately released an official video showing its operatives conducting missions inside Iran on the opening morning of Operation Rising Lion in order to overwhelm Iranian security services with mass arrests and protect actual Mossad agents, that Israeli agents who participated in the operation are still living in Tehran today, and that he personally approved every single operative dispatched to Iran by staking his own head on their reliability.

"One of the reasons we immediately released an official video on the morning of Operation Rising Lion, with the Mossad logo, was to protect the agents who were there," Barnea said. "We wanted to make sure they arrested so many people in Iran that they wouldn't be able to separate the wheat from the chaff and would eventually release everyone. Incidentally, that is exactly what happened."

According to Barnea, Iranian authorities arrested 21,000 people on the second day of the fighting. "When you arrest 21,000 people, even if you've caught an agent or two, eventually you have to release them because everyone's story will be the same: I was walking down the street, I was driving a car, they arrested me. And in the end, they released everyone." The figures could not be independently verified.

Agents Still In Tehran

Barnea said operatives who participated in the campaign continued to live in Tehran, describing their ongoing presence with remarkable candor. "I can't tell you they're here with us, but they're there in Tehran, still living their good lives, knowing in their hearts that they served a noble purpose, not for the State of Israel, but for themselves." He claimed that 99.9 percent of Mossad agents had never been exposed.

He also revealed that some of those arrested or executed in Iran on accusations of working for Israeli intelligence had never been associated with the Mossad at all. "Some of the people being hanged in Iran on accusations of being Mossad agents, I have to ask who they are. They tell me: listen, we don't know either. Just unfortunate people whom they decided were our agents, but who never worked for the Mossad, and probably never worked for any other intelligence organization either."

Agents Knew, Pilots Did Not

Barnea described a striking asymmetry in who knew about Operation Rising Lion. Israeli fighter pilots were unaware of their impending missions when summoned to their squadrons. "Nobody in the world knew we were going to attack in Operation Rising Lion. And to tell the truth, even our pilots didn't know they were going to attack when they were called to their squadrons." By contrast, dozens of Mossad operatives had been deployed inside Iran weeks before, fully briefed on their assignments and the impending military campaign. "Many dozens of our agents were dispatched knowing they were going to carry out an operation, weeks before it began. And they kept that secret entirely to themselves, in their hearts."

Barnea said he personally approved every operative assigned to the mission. "Every one of those agents had to receive the green check mark that I personally had to give each one. I meet them, I talk to them, I hug them, I encourage them, and I have to trust them. You have to sign off that this secret won't leak. When I say I sign off on each one, I'm staking my head on it."

The Pager Operation: Netanyahu's Question

Barnea offered a detailed account of the final minutes before the September 2024 pager operation, in which thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah operatives exploded nearly simultaneously across Lebanon, killing and wounding members of the organization and severely disrupting its communications. He said he was sitting in the underground military command center at 3:20 p.m. alongside Netanyahu, the defense minister, the IDF chief of staff, and the head of Military Intelligence. The operation was scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.

"The prime minister turns to me and says, 'Tell me, what happens if it doesn't work?'" Barnea recalled. He said it was the first time he had seriously contemplated that possibility, with ten minutes remaining. "My heart is pounding, and I tell him, 'There's no such possibility. Everything is fine.' After that, I had 10 whole minutes of thinking, 'What a stupid thing I just said.'"

Hundreds Of Tests And Red Lines On Civilian Casualties

Barnea said the Mossad conducted hundreds of experiments before the pager operation, using mannequins filled with materials simulating the human body, and that he repeatedly demanded reductions in explosive quantities to minimize harm to civilians near targets. "Every time I watched a test, I would say, 'Reduce the amount of explosives.'" He said he considered the potential deaths of family members of Hezbollah operatives an unacceptable consequence. "I, on behalf of the State of Israel, cannot accept the possibility that the daughter of a Hezbollah terrorist, or his son, or his wife, would be harmed because we want to eliminate him." His team warned repeatedly that his restrictions would make the devices less effective. "I told them, 'We have red lines.'"

Barnea claimed that 4,500 people with missing limbs are now living in Dahieh, Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs. "They are the best reminder I can imagine of what happens to a Hezbollah terrorist who tries to harm the citizens of the State of Israel."

Asked whether Israel had prepared a third operation involving compromised devices after the pagers and walkie-talkies, Barnea declined to answer, saying the uncertainty itself served a strategic purpose. He compared it to Japan's uncertainty after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "After the first bomb, you think maybe that was the only one. After the second, you're not sure whether there's a third."

Israel Was Deterred Before Iran's 2024 Attacks

Barnea acknowledged that Israel had been deterred by Iran's military capabilities before Tehran launched direct attacks against Israel in April and October 2024. "We have to tell the truth. Before those attacks, the State of Israel — we — were deterred." He said Israeli officials had lacked a clear understanding of Iran's long-range precision missiles and whether Israeli and American air defenses could withstand a large-scale attack. He described the Iranian strikes as two historic strategic mistakes by Tehran that exposed capabilities Israel had previously regarded with uncertainty, and which altered Israel's threat assessment.