The parents of a Golani Reconnaissance Unit company commander who was killed nearly two years ago in battle against Hezbollah terrorists will be allowed to use his sperm to have a child, the Rishon Lezion Family Court ruled Sunday. With no objection from the attorney general’s office, Judge Rivka Makayes granted the parents’ request.
Their son was appointed company commander in the elite unit in September 2024, and about a month later was killed along with four other soldiers in a battle in the village of Ayta ash-Shab in southern Lebanon. He was 24.
IDF forces operating in Lebanon
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Immediately afterward, his parents signed authorization forms for the retrieval of his sperm and the donation of his organs. Twelve sperm samples were extracted and frozen, and one of his corneas was transplanted into a patient, restoring the recipient’s sight.
In December 2025, the parents filed a petition seeking permission to use his sperm in order to continue his lineage. His father testified that during a brief respite trip the two took to Greece, his son had asked him to have children from his sperm if he were killed.
The father recalled his son telling him: “If I don’t come back from the war, take good care of Mom and of [my two siblings], and make sure I have children. I trust you to choose the right mother.”
Friends who had previously served with him in the Egoz Unit also said he told them he wanted to have descendants after his death, and that he wished to name a future child after his commander and friend, Maj. Shilo Har-Even, who was killed in the fighting on October 7.
According to them, the deceased soldier had stressed that if he fell in battle, he wanted his parents to make sure he had children, and even joked that his mother would know how to choose the most suitable woman for him.
A representative of the attorney general’s office did not oppose the parents’ request and left the decision to the court’s discretion.
Judge Makayes granted the parents permission to use their son’s sperm and wrote: “After reviewing their affidavits and hearing the testimony of the plaintiffs and two of the deceased’s close friends, the court was persuaded that the plaintiffs proved that the deceased’s ‘presumed’ wish was to have continuity even after his death.”
She stressed that these were not merely general remarks, but “very specific conversations” in which he clearly expressed his wishes.
“Although there is no doubt that he was fully aware of the dangers he faced as a combat soldier and commander, the deceased chose, in an altruistic and admirable manner, to put his life at risk for the defense of the state, its security and the safety of its citizens, while making clear to those close to him his desire for continuity if the worst should happen and he were killed,” she wrote.
Under those circumstances, the judge approved the parents’ request to use their fallen son’s sperm to have a child, subject to court approval of any future agreement reached with the intended mother.