At the age of 18, Pasana faced the dilemma of pursuing his musical career and joining an IDF band or enlisting in a combat unit. Eventually Pasana decided that he wanted to spent the next three years of his adult life contributing to his country and society as much as he possibly can.
After taking a year off helping children with special needs, Pasana joined the 50th Battalion.After joining the Battalion, Pasana quickly proved to be an excellent soldier and was sent to squad commanders course.
After a successful time as a squad commander, he was chosen to go on to officer’s school. After rigorous months of training at officer’s school’s course, he is now ready to get his officer’s ranks and start his next chapter in the army as platoon commander.
He states that his friends and family are proud of him and of the historic achievement he represents. When asked about wanting to pursue his acting career, he responds that at the time he is busy with thinking how to be as good a commander as possible to his future soldiers.
Emanuel is a great example of the integration of minorities in the IDF. Since 2010 there have been more than 110,000 Israeli-Ethiopians residents in Israel, thousands of them joining the army every year. Many Israeli-Ethiopians serve in combat positions in every division in the IDF, and many of them are selected to become officers and come back to their units as commanders.