To provide an inexpensive operating device having stability of quality by one drive coil with weak magnetomotive force, by obtaining suction force of a permanent magnet required during contact of a movable and stationary contacts, minimizing its mass, and stabilizing the magnetomotive force without giving inverse magnetic flux to the permanent magnet as far as possible.

A first movable core with a protrusion is provided on one pole face of a movable permanent magnet, and a similar second movable core is provided on the other pole face. The first and second movable cores and the permanent magnet are integrally reciprocated. A first stationary core part is made to face the first movable core, a second stationary core part is made to face the protrusion of the second movable core in the same direction as the facing direction of the first stationary core part, and a third stationary iron core part is made to face the protrusion of the first movable iron core in a direction opposite to the above direction. At a contact position in a switching device, the sum total of the ratios of gaps between the stationary cores and the movable cores to the cross sections of magnetic paths passing through the gaps are made almost equal to the ratio of the thickness of the permanent magnet to a pole area. A narrow part where saturated magnetic flux density is exceeded is provided in a magnetic circuit of the permanent magnet during closing.