IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot signed off Monday morning on a number of personnel changes in the army command, including 17 promotions.
Among the officers being promoted is Lt. David Shapiro, one of the heroes from the 2008 Mercaz Harav massacre who managed to eliminate the terrorist and put an end to the slaughter. He is a graduate of the Merkaz Harav HIgh School, "Yeshiva Letzi'irim."
The terrorist, Alaa Abu Dhein from the Jabel Mukhaber neighborhood of Jerusalem, entered the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva and opened fire with an automatic weapon on unarmed students, most of them teenagers, who were in the yeshiva library studying Torah. Eight were killed, 10 more wounded.
During the rampage, David Shapiro and Yitzhak Dadon, both off-duty IDF officers, responded to the shooting, eliminating Abu Dhein and ending the massacre. Shapiro had been on his way home from his base and heard the shooting, ran across the street and shot the terrorist. Dadon had climbed onto the roof and shot from there.
On Monday, Shapiro received the rank of Colonel and was appointed as brigade commander for the Binyamin region in Samaria.
Lt. Sagiv Dahan was also promoted to Colonel and appointed to lead a regional brigade in Samaria, receiving command of the Shomron brigade.