Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman was not about to be left out of the offensive launched by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the states that on Dec. 23 supported UN Security Council Resolution 2334, condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as a violation of international law. On Dec. 24, Liberman instructed Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, who heads the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), to sever ties with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and avoid working sessions with its senior officials on civilian-diplomatic matters.
COGAT, the military unit tasked with ensuring the smooth daily routine of the Palestinian population in the West Bank (and also in the Gaza Strip), deals with a variety of issues, such as transferring goods and raw materials into the West Bank, providing energy, developing infrastructure, coordinating with the PA, issuing transit permits for Palestinians traveling to and from the West Bank through Israel, allocating permits for Palestinians wishing to work in Israel, handling humanitarian issues, and more. The office of the coordinator deals with matters intrinsic to the daily lives of the more than 1.5 million Palestinians residing in the West Bank under PA control.
