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’s 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 of security, lack of unity, terrible overcrowding, and the high cost of living,” he said of the problems facing the country.

“Our society is divided and fragmented and very painful, especially after October 7,” Cohen continued, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led attack that started the ongoing Gaza war. “This leadership product, which I will try to sell — when there is an active election campaign — is one of national leadership, which is essentially unity and security.”

Cohen has flirted with entering electoral politics in the past, but has yet to formally enter the ring. Asked explicitly during the podcast if he intends to run in the next elections, he said, “I will think about it then if there is space to run.”

After months of speculation that he would form a new right-wing party last year, Cohen decided not to enter politics, instead extending his contract for two more years as a director of Israel operations at SoftBank, a leading Japanese holding firm that primarily invests in companies operating in the technology, energy, and financial sectors.

In June, Channel 12 news reported that Cohen was considering creating a new political party to run for Knesset in the next general election.

According to the network, Cohen has previously discussed forming alliances with former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman and Netanyahu himself.

The report said, however, that Cohen was now leaning toward forming his own party, as he believes Israel needs political change and that he would bring something new to the table.

Israel’s next elections are currently scheduled for October 2026.