Dr. Avi Yitzchaki, the chief medical officer of the IDF Southern Command, on Thursday became the first Israeli of Ethiopian descent to be promoted to the rank of colonel, reports Yoav Zitun for Ynet News.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said, “Col. Avi Yitzchaki is a trailblazer. I congratulate you. To me, this promotion expresses the great appreciation of all you’ve done so far.”
Yitzchaki said, “I have no doubt my children, teenagers in general, and teenagers from the Ethiopian community, in particular, will see this as a realization of the phrase ‘If you will it, it is no dream.'”
Yitzchaki made aliyah to Israel from Ethiopia in 1994 at the age of 19. He completed medical studies at Ben-Gurion University. He served as a doctor with the Paratroopers Brigade and the Maglan special forces unit, and was wounded in the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
wishing him luck as long as he qualified and not fulfilling a political quota.
Amazing that someone came at that age, post-school, with little or no knowledge of Hebrew or English, from a totally different culture and educational background, and made it to such a high level of excellence in just over 20 years!