Center for Consciousness Operations

The Centre for Consciousness Operations (Hebrew המרכז למבצעי תודעה), abbreviated Malat (מל"ת) is an IDF 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.[1]

A senior IDF officer has, however, criticized the new unit for being a "white elephant" and for wasting "time and resources [by attempting to] accompany every military operation with [its own] psychological warfare program." [2]

The Malat's most famous activity was the Malshinon Operation, which entailed the distribution of a massive number of pamphlets prompting Palestinians to call an IDF voicemail with warnings of imminent Qassam rocket launches.

References

  1. ↑ IDF reviving psychological warfare unit Haaretz January 25, 2005
  2. ↑ Yossi Shdemi and Barak Ravid, "The unit that will drive our enemies mad", NRG, December 17, 2005 (Hebrew)


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