More than a decade has passed since former minister Ra'anan Cohen resigned from political life and entered the business world. Cohen, who served as minister of labor and social affairs on behalf of the Labor party, is convinced that the social movement that erupted in Israel two years ago will become a violent protest in the future. When society's gaps only deepen and the circle of poverty widens, people feel that they have nothing to lose.

Cohen, 72, was born in Iraq and spent his childhood in an Israeli transit camp. He now serves as chairman of the board of the Israeli Wholesale Market. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Cohen sketches a disturbing picture of a society that has lost its sense of solidarity, sports a rudderless political leadership and is run by bureaucrats. The text of the interview follows.

Al-Monitor:  In your current position, you frequently warn against "the rule of the treasury's bureaucrats." You really feel that it's so bad?

Cohen:  Definitely. We have a regime of clerks and bureaucrats. As soon as a clerk decides what is permitted and what is forbidden instead of his minister, that is a severe problem that will only worsen with time.