Last modified: 2025-09-06 by martin karner
Keywords: civil administration | coordinator of government activities in the territories | israel |
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image located by Esteban Rivera
(picture, source)
image located by Esteban Rivera
(source)
image located by William Garrison
(picture, source)
image located by Esteban Rivera
(picture, source [retrieved])
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