Netanyahu: "If there was an option - I would have done it with Yoni"
The Prime Minister was a guest on the podcast "Melech Be-Laitzer Chaim" (King of Life Production) hosted by Avi Hirsh, the father of Reef, who fell in Gaza. Hirsh is waging a campaign to bring a child into the world using his son's sperm to fulfill his will. Netanyahu shared that if he could, he would have brought a child from the sperm of his brother, the hero of Operation Entebbe: "Yes, I would have done it."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that if he had the option to bring a child into the world from the sperm of his brother, Sayeret Matkal commander Lt. Col. Yoni Netanyahu (of blessed memory), he would have done so. Netanyahu made the remarks in a conversation with Avi Hirsh, the father of Reef, who fell in battle in Gaza, on the "Melech Be-Laitzer Chaim" (King of Life Production) podcast of Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio).
During the conversation, Hirsh spoke about the difficulties and legal obstacles the family is facing in their attempt to use the sperm harvested from his son after his death, with the goal of bringing a grandchild into the world to fulfill his son's last will — that he have a child.
"We were sitting at the kitchen table, and the intelligence officer took out the first page and said that Reef was within the time frame for sperm harvesting. We signed immediately. My last conversation with Reef was quite clear — he knew very well what he was heading into. He said, 'I'm scared, but I want to experience Gaza.'"
However, according to the father, even though the harvesting procedure was successful at Soroka Hospital thanks to a temporary order, the family encountered a legal dead end that prevents the completion of the process — and he was informed that he cannot use the sperm.
"I was sure that there was a law in the country that regulates this matter," Hirsh said. "I came to the Knesset because I think it is the responsibility of the state that sent the soldiers into battle. There were very many people who supported and wrote wonderful bills, but unfortunately, after a year, it got stuck in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation." Reef's father added that he continues to fight and that just as his children have children, "Reef will also have children."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Netanyahu expressed deep empathy with the grieving father's aspiration and referred personally to his brother, Lt. Col. Yoni Netanyahu (of blessed memory), who fell in Operation Entebbe. Netanyahu said that his brother Yoni did not have children, and Hirsh asked, "If you had the option, would you have done it?" The Prime Minister immediately replied in the affirmative: "Yes. I would have done it. I think so."
