The Hashmonaim Brigade commissioned its first chareidi officers on Tuesday, as fifteen graduates completed the unit's inaugural officers' course in a ceremony held on the roof of Yeshivat HaKotel in Yerushalayim.
The graduates, who will take up command positions across the brigade's sectors, finished an eight-month course that combined classroom training with active combat operations in Lebanon and Yehuda and Shomron alongside other Hashmonaim forces.
Among the graduates are soldiers who rose through the ranks within the brigade as well as those who transferred from other units after serving as squad commanders in Hashmonaim.
The course was conducted under the full authority of the IDF Officers' School (Bahad 1), following its professional standards and curriculum, but adapted to the chareidi lifestyle. Throughout the training, mehadrin kashrus was maintained, along with set times for learning and tefillah, and a gender-separated environment.
The cadets studied combat tactics and command skills, completed live-fire courses, and trained in navigation. They then participated in the "Gefen" military completion program, which included combat exercises in open terrain and built-up areas while commanding forces, as well as the firing range and the "Chetz HaTzafon" exercise, alongside cadets from the general "Gefen" track at Bahad 1.
Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir met with the graduates earlier in the day and congratulated them on their achievement. "This is a historic and moving event. You are making history and breaking new ground with the completion of the first officers' course of the Hashmonaim Brigade," he said. The cadets are fulfilling a broader vision of the Jewish people, he added, and he views the chareidi community as an inseparable part of Israeli society.
Zamir said the new officers are already integrated into operational activity and can be deployed to any mission, defensive or offensive, including maneuver operations. He emphasized that they are partners in building a strong infantry brigade capable of meeting all the missions assigned to it, and that their success is important to the IDF and to all of Am Yisrael.
The completion of the course marks another stage in building the command structure of the Hashmonaim Brigade, designed to enable chareidi officers to lead forces during their military service. The IDF has already begun screening and recruitment processes for the brigade's next officers' course, scheduled to open in November.
