Israeli Air Force Promotes First Female Brigadier-General

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced a historic milestone with the promotion of Col. "G." to the rank of brigadier-general, making her the first woman in Israeli Air Force history to achieve the rank through the Air Force's own leadership pipeline. In addition to her promotion, she has also been named the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attaché in Washington, where she will be tasked with deepening Israel's aerial cooperation with the United States, a position that is vital for the country's strategic position.

Col. G., whose name has been redacted, has held command of the Uvda Air Force Base since May 2024. At age 42, she became the first woman to command an Israeli Air Force base. Previously in 2019, she was the first woman to command an Air Force squadron, the Nachshon intelligence-collection squadron.

The IDF is citing her appointment to Washington as one of the Air Force's most strategic positions in the outposts of the "air world," a place where decisions of bilateral aerial cooperation between Israel and the United States are made on a daily basis.

Key Highlights

• First woman promoted to brigadier-general through Israeli Air Force ranks
• Appointed Washington Air Force attaché overseeing critical bilateral military cooperation
• Previously became first woman commanding Air Force base and squadron

The promotion is important as it is only the third time that women have reached the rank of brigadier-general in the IDF, and the first time they have achieved it through the Israeli Air Force. One female officer had previously been promoted to the rank in the IDF Ground Forces and then transferred to an Air Force role. Col. G. is thus the first female to have been promoted completely within the Air Force.

The third-highest military rank in the Israeli military hierarchy is brigadier-general. The number of officers on the IDF General Staff that are major-generals is less than 20, and the lieutenant-general rank is reserved for the IDF Chief of Staff only.

Previously, the IDF had just three female major-generals: Orna Barbivai, former Head of the Manpower Directorate; the current Head of the Military Court of Appeals, Orli Markman, and the Military Advocate-General, Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi. At the highest level of the military, women are also grossly underrepresented with only other women, such as Brig.-Gen. Yael Grosman of the C4I and Cyber Defense Directorate, having been elevated to brigadier-general rank.

The announcement was part of a series of high-ranking military promotions unveiled by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir. Brig.-Gen. Omer Cohen's promotion to command the 91st Division follows his tenure in command of the IDF Commando Brigade and at IDF headquarters. Brig.-Gen. Beni Aharon was transferred from command of the 146th Division to command the 36th Division and Brig.-Gen. Oren Simcha was appointed commander of the 162nd Division of the Southern Command.

Besides, Brig.-Gen. "Y." was also appointed the deputy commander of the Air Force, and thus may be promoted to become the next Air Force chief after Maj.-Gen. Omer Tischler, who took command in May. The IDF added that a number of other promotions and appointments are also planned at the brig.-gen. and colonel ranks, while future assignments for brig.-gen. Yiftach Norkin, brig.-gen. Yuval Gez and brig.-gen. Sagiv Dahan are yet to be determined.