On Nov. 15, IDF soldier Jeremy Jacobson received his green beret at his brigade’s Tekes Kumta – Beret Ceremony – which signifies a soldier’s successful completion of eight grueling months of basic training and his new status as a full-fledged combat-ready soldier in the Israel Defense Forces. The 26-year-old West Hartford native, who is serving in the IDF’s Nahal brigade, was also presented with a special award naming him the top soldier in his company. In recognition of that achievement, the brigade’s commanding general congratulated him and personally placed Jacobson’s beret upon his head.

Each IDF infantry brigade has a Tekes Kumta at the completion of basic training. The Tekes Kumta was immediately preceded by a 45-kilometer (approximately 28 mile) masa – hike – in which soldiers, carrying a full complement of gear, trek through the desert to the top of Masada.

Jacobson is a graduate of the Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield and William Hall High School in West Hartford. After receiving his B.A. from the Elliot School of International Affairs at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he majored in international affairs and Middle East Studies, he attended Tel Aviv University, where he was awarded a Master’s degree in security and diplomacy. He became an Israeli citizen in the spring of 2014 and, the following winter, left his position as an intelligence analyst at a private geopolitical securities firm in Tel Aviv in order to fulfill his army service.

He is the son of Judie Jacobson, editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger, and Alan Jacobson z”l.