Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said in an interview aired Tuesday that he thinks he should be the country’s next prime minister, saying that Israel is pushing for “real change” in leadership.

Cohen has long been linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appointed him as Mossad head after he served as the premier’s national security adviser, with the premier reportedly viewing him and fellow longtime confidant Ron Dermer as potential successors.

In an interview with the Yasmin Lukatz podcast that was recorded before the Israel-Iran war in June, Cohen declared, “the public is pushing hard, and for real change to happen, I need to be prime minister.”

“I don’t see this as politics,” he said, about the premiership role. “I see it differently, and I think this should be defined differently. In my opinion, it’s a leadership role and not necessarily a political role.”

“From your window, you see all the people standing in traffic jams, suffering from lack........

© The Times of Israel