Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi promoted Reut Rettig-Weiss to the rank of colonel yesterday. Retting-Weiss will serve as commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ 99th division’s artillery brigade as well as head an artillery unit at the military’s Tze’elim urban warfare training center in the south of Israel. She will be Israel’s first ever female brigade commander.

Before her promotion, Rettig-Weiss commanded the Artillery Corps’ elite Sky Riders Unit, which gathers intelligence before and during missions using small, rather simple drones. She was also the first woman to ever serve in this capacity.

IDF spokesperson Ran Kochav tweeted after the ceremony, "Dear Reut, congratulations on the glass ceilings you continue to shatter, your pursuit of excellence, the personal example you are setting and the important path you are paving for many excellent women. Good luck!"

Economy Minister Orna Barbivai, who was the first woman to make major-general in the IDF, also congratulated Retting-Weiss, tweeting, "Col. Reut Rettig-Weiss, I salute you for the groundbreaking appointment for a woman to head a brigade." Barbivai was the only female minister out of the nine in the current government to tweet about the news.