Why an Israeli general is Facebook chatting with Palestinians | Al-Monitor

“Shalom, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve decided that we can dialogue directly, and I’m glad I was given an opportunity to address you personally.” This was the opening line of Maj. Gen. Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), in his first live video chat with Palestinians on the Facebook page Al-Monsiq (Arabic for “The Coordinator”). The Facebook page was set up in March 2015 to improve communications between residents of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on issues under COGAT’s purview, both relating to individual matters and to those of the Palestinian public in general. Mordechai is involved with the daily routine of more than 2.5 million Palestinians in the [Hamas-controlled] Gaza Strip and West Bank.