In first, IDF nominates member of Ethiopian community for colonel rank

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot nominates Lt. Col. Avraham Yitzhak to take over as chief medical officer of the army’s Southern Command, putting him on the path to becoming the first Israeli of Ethiopian heritage in the IDF to hold the rank of colonel.

Lt. Col. Dr. Avraham Yitzhak, poised to take over as medical officer of the Southern Command and become the IDF's first colonel to come from the Ethiopian community. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Lt. Col. Dr. Avraham Yitzhak, poised to take over as medical officer of the Southern Command and become the IDF’s first colonel to come from the Ethiopian community. (IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

Yitzchak, who was born in Ethiopia and moved to Israel in 1994, is one of 28 new nominations the army has announced. They are all subject to final approval by the defense minister.

In addition, six women have also been tapped for colonel-level positions. Three of them will receive promotions for their proposed positions, while the rest are already colonels.

Lt. Col. Liron Donal will take over as commander of the Home Front Command’s Dan District, which includes Tel Aviv and the surrounding suburbs. She will be the first woman to lead a Home Front Command district.

Lt. Col. Olga Polyakov will go up in rank to colonel and become chief medical officer for the Home Front Command. Col. Orli Stern will lead the Logistics Directorate’s building and engineering department. The unnamed-for-security-reasons Col. M. will run Military Intelligence’s human resources department.

The other two women — Col. Noa Zumar and Lt. Col. Tali Freed — will take positions in the army’s legal system.

Lt. Col. Carmel Wahabi, a Druze Israeli, will also preside in the army’s judiciary.

— Judah Ari Gross

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