Civil Administration | ||||||||||
המנהל האזרחי Ha-Minhal ha-ʿEzraḥi |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Capital | Beit El | |||||||||
Languages |
Hebrew (state language, language of Jewish population), Arabic (language of Arab population) |
|||||||||
Government | ||||||||||
Head of the Civil Administration | David Menachem | |||||||||
History | ||||||||||
• | Israeli Military Order Number 947 | 1981 | ||||||||
• | Oslo Accords | 1994 (end of direct governance role) | ||||||||
Currency | Israeli shekel (NIS) | |||||||||
|
The Civil Administration (Hebrew: המנהל האזרחי, ha-Minhal ha-ʿEzraḥi) is the Israeli governing body that operates in the West Bank. It was established by the government of Israel in 1981, in order to carry out practical bureaucratic functions within the territories captured by Israel in 1967. While formally separate, it was subordinate to the Israeli military and the Shin Bet.
The Civil Administration is a part of a larger entity known as Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), which is a unit in the Defense Ministry of Israel. Its functions have largely been taken over by the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, however it still continues a limited operation to manage Palestinian population in the Area C of the West Bank and coordination with the Palestinian government. After 2002, the distinction set forth in the Oslo Accords restricting Israeli military operations in area A was de facto terminated.
The creation of a civil administration for the West Bank and Gaza Strip was incorporated within the Camp David Accords, signed by Egypt and Israel in 1978. The Civil Administration intended to exchange the military government Israel had established in 1967. The Camp David Accords did not include the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in the talks over issues of the Palestinian-claimed territories.
A modification which preceded the actual creation of the body was a change in the "chain of command", consolidating power within the military.
The nature of this body was defined in Military Order No. 947, by the 1981 military government of the West Bank and Gaza: