Between 7 October 2023 and 1 July 2026, the families of some 270 Israeli soldiers killed in the war asked for their sons’ sperm to be extracted after death. That figure comes from Israel’s Health Ministry, via Público.
It isn’t new or improvised: Israel has allowed it since 2003 under a guideline from the Attorney General, and a 2009 ruling opened it to the dead soldier’s parents, not only partners. So a mother can end up having a grandchild, through a surrogate, from a son who died single.
The best-known case is Maor Cohen Eisenkot, 19, killed in Gaza in December 2023, nephew of former army chief Gadi Eisenkot (who lost his own son the day before). A family court let his mother use his sperm because Maor had told a friend he was afraid of dying without being a father. Without written consent, a friend’s memory was enough.
Now it’s a campaign issue ahead of the October 2026 elections, with four bills frozen at preliminary reading.
The article frames all this against Gaza, where tens of thousands have died and nobody is extracting anything: one side legislating to keep its dead’s lineage alive, the other unable even to bury theirs. Público uses the word genocide; I’m leaving you the link to judge.