Tamir Pardo, chief of Mossad, is scheduled to retire at the end of 2015 after five years in the post and 35 years in Israel's intelligence community.
The race to replace him is on and the identity of the new Mossad chief could be an indication of how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees Israel confronting the Iranian nuclear programme, Mossad's primary target over the past decade.
Three candidates from within the organisation are the head of National Security Council, Yossi Cohen, and Ram Ben Barak, director-general of the Ministry for Strategic Affairs. Both are Mossad veterans and are seen as the leading candidates alongside the current deputy, whose name is classified.
Another possibility is Major-General Amir Eshel, commander of the air-force and former commander of the IDF planning directorate.
In recent years, the Mossad has been of the view that a strike on Iran's nuclear installations is not the best course and has been less sceptical than Mr Netanyahu about a potential deal with Iran.