Col. Omer Cohen takes command of the military’s Oz Brigade, also known as the Commando Brigade, replacing Col. Meni Liberati, who held the position since August 2021.
The brigade brings four of the army’s elite units — Egoz, Rimon, Maglan and Duvdevan — under one roof, with the goal of cutting away inefficiencies and allowing for greater cooperation. It was formed in 2015 under the Central Command’s 98th Division.
During a ceremony at the army’s Beit Lid base east of Netanya, 98th Division Commander Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfus lauds Liberati for his work as the unit’s leader during the past two years.
“Meni, you are completing two years commanding [the unit], in which you impeccably and inspiringly led an unprecedented number of operational activities with exceptional quality. You dealt with difficult incidents — operational and non-operational — with dignity, with extraordinary self-criticism, you knew how to embrace, strengthen, raise your head, be devoted, and lead everyone forward,” Goldfus says.
The “difficult non-operational incident” Goldfus was likely referring to was a deadly case of friendly fire in the Egoz unit in January 2022.
Liberati will be taking a break from military service for academic studies.
Cohen, the new commander, previously led the Duvdevan unit.
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