Center for Consciousness Operations


The Centre for Consciousness Operations, abbreviated Malat is an Israel Defense Forces Operations Directorate unit which specializes in psychological warfare.

History

Formerly known as the psychological warfare unit, the unit was reactivated between 2004 and 2005 following five years of reduced operations and comprises intelligence officers and civilian psychologists headed by a senior Colonel, with an emphasis on Arabic speakers.
The unit was a product of several unsuccessful attempts to renew the psychological warfare front in the IDF. The units doctrine is to influence Palestinian public opinion using "propaganda, psychological warfare and sometimes disinformation." As the Military Intelligence Directorate opposed including psychological warfare in its operations, it has been placed in an unusual position in the IDF hierarchy: subordinate to the head of the Operations Branch of the IDF general staff, or "professionally guided," as the arrangement was officially titled by the head of Aman, which in effect means it is a body with greater autonomy than its predecessors.
A senior IDF officer has, however, criticized the new unit for being a "white elephant" and for wasting "time and resources accompany every military operation with psychological warfare program."