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Civil Administration and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Israel)

Last modified: 2025-09-06 by martin karner
Keywords: civil administration | coordinator of government activities in the territories | israel |
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Flag Civil Administration

[civil adm. flag] image located by Esteban Rivera
(picture, source)

Logo Civil Administration

[civil adm. logo] image located by Esteban Rivera
(source)

Flag Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)

[cogat flag] image located by William Garrison
(picture, source)

Flag Variant (COGAT)

[flag variant] image located by Esteban Rivera
(picture, source [retrieved])

Logo (COGAT)

[flag variant] image located by Esteban Rivera
(source)



See also:


Apparently the flag of the "Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories" (COGAT) which is an agency of the "Ministry of Defense"; c. August 2022. Per Wikipedia this agency "is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces, international organization, diplomats, and the Palestinian Authority. It is the main organ, remaining of the mostly defunct Israeli Civil Administration."
William Garrison, 25 November 2022

The flag is a horizontal white background with the logo in the middle. It seems that somewhere during and/or after 2021 they changed their logo to the current version, having the same pattern as the Ministry of Defence pattern logo (a menorah-like wall made up of sword blades superimposed with an olive branch with two shaking hands, the old logo being a desert fox behind the sword and the olive branch superimposed over a wall and on the background the Israeli pattern flag).

The Civil Administration (המנהל האזרחי, ha-Minhal ha-'Ezraḥi, Matpash; Arabic: الإدارة المدنية الإسرائيلية) is the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), which at the time was united with Jordan, following the adoption of the Act of Unity officially declared on April 24, 1950 (which refers to the Jordanian Parliament's resolution to unite the East and West Banks of the Jordan River into a single state, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan). This act formalized the annexation of the West Bank, which had been under Jordanian control since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, though the legislative authority was in the hands of the central Government in Amman, the municipal councils had a legislative role confined to ordinances of minor patterns (source) and the Gaza Strip which was at the time administered by Egypt, both occupied in June 1967 during the so called Six Day War. Shortly after the 1967 war, the Israeli military command in the West Bank published on June 7 Proclamation No. 2 Concerning the Assumption of Government by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Additionally, in August with the appointment of the Political-Security Coordination Committee in the Territories and the Commitee Center, and on September 10 with the appointment of the Civil Affairs Coordinator it was then enacted as the governing body. Then came the establishment of the West Bank Military Courts by Proclamation No. 3, later replaced by Proclamation No. 378, jurisdiction to hear any cases relating to acts committed before or after the Israeli Defence Forces entered the area (source).

Furthermore, that same year Israel's Parliament passed enabling legislation for extension of "the law, jurisdiction and administration of the State of Israel to any area of Eretz Israel (Palestine) designated by the Government by order" (source). On February 1968 the Ministry of Interior of Israel promulgated a regulation by which the West Bank and the Gaza Strip would no longer be considered as enemy territories. Thus, Israel considers itself as Administering Power rather than occupier of the territories (source).

On September 1981 the Ministry of Defense separated the IDF's normal mission of defending the State of Israel and its residents from external threats from its responsibility to address the civilian needs of the Palestinian population under Israeli control. It was then on November 1981 by Order Concerning the Establishment of a Civil Administration (Judea and Samaria) (No. 947, 1981), that the Civil Administration was formally established, which was part of the Israeli military government in the territories up until then, namely the IDF and the Shin Bet. Security activities were thus in the hands of the military government, subordinate to the overall commander. Civil powers were vested in the Civil Administration, which was subordinate to the Ministry for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which in turn is subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. Among its functions are the coordination with the Palestinian Authority of precisly administering the territories.

Israeli COGAT activity with regards to the Gaza Strip is carried out by the Coordination and Liaison Manager, also labeled and/or known as Coordination and Liaison Administration, CLA) of the Gaza Strip. The CLA is located outside of the Gaza Strip adjacent to the Erez Crossing. The CLA is the military unit responsible to coordinate access to and from the Gaza Strip, facilitate civilian and humanitarian needs and requirements of the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip doing so in coordination with the international community.

Through the implementation of the Oslo Accords (several agreements and protocols, mainly the "Oslo I" signed on September 13, 1993, and "Oslo II" signed on September 28, 1995, agreed upon by Israel and the PLO, the Civil Administration transferred some of its governance capacities to the Palestinian National Authority in 1994. Since 1994, the Civil Administration has largely focused on matters involving the issuing of movement permits.

Initially after its inception, there were two separate liaison systems: a civilian (District Coordination Liaison, DCL) that was subordinate to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and a military (District Coordination Officer, DCO) that was subordinate to the regional command commander (Southern Command or Central Command).
After 2002, the distinction set forth in the Oslo Accords restricting Israeli military operations in area A was de facto terminated.

Upon the implementation of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan from the Gaza Strip in 2005, The Civil Administration has exercised authority exclusively in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria). However, due to recent events, especially the Gaza War (2023 onwards), there are several proposals of redeveloping the whole area (issued by the US President on Febraury 4, 2025 and a somewhat similar proposal by Israel's Prime Minister approved by the Security Cabinet on August 8 of the same year) under joint international cooperation that oversees the administration of the territory (sources: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-841702, https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8ryekj1m1do, https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-864830, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyhEoWJXmac).

Sources:
http://www.cogat.idf.il/About/Pages/AboutUs.aspx
https://www.gov.il/he/pages/aboutcogat
http://www.cogat.idf.il/About/MateHamatpash/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.cogat.idf.il/CivilAdministration/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.cogat.idf.il/CoordinationGaza/Pages/default.aspx
https://www.gov.il/he/departments/civil_authority_in_judea_and_samaria/govil-landing-page
https://gaza-aid-data.gov.il/main/about-us
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%94%D7%9C_%D7%94%D7%90%D7%96%D7%A8%D7%97%D7%99
https://he.wikipedia.org/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinator_of_Government_Activities_in_the_Territories

For additional information go to COGAT (official website): http://www.cogat.idf.il
(currently unavailable, accessible only through here)

Esteban Rivera, 20 August 2025