If I didn’t know this story (Hebrew) was true, I’d bet it was made up out of whole cloth. But, alas, in latter-day Israel, the truth is stranger than any fiction a satirist can invent.
Mako reporter, Shimon Ifergan, bless his heart, decided this was a terrific human interest story. After all, what could be better than combining fertile mommies, baby-making, sex (even if it’s just masturbating into a cup), and young IDF warriors. Far better than motherhood and apple pie–the American equivalent!
The intrepid Ifergan traipsed to Israeli sperm banks and dutifully recorded interviews with staff who regaled him with stories of mommies-to-be approaching them clamoring for the seed of true Israeli warriors. These ladies preferred not just any seed, but the best of the best: the soldiers who serve in the elite combat units like Shayetet 13, Sayeret Matkal, air force pilots, paratroopers, or in the vaunted intelligence unit, Unit 8200.
As the director of the Rambam Hospital fertility lab put it in a similar Yediot story about women seeking men who’d served during Operation Protective Edge:
It appears that the military operation and the many stories [of heroism] we were exposed to sharpened certain insights in those [women] who are turning to us. Part of this business also points to desired qualities in the [sperm] donor. Here we get into the criterion of military service which attests to what sort of man [he is]. We’re speaking of qualities like perseverance, decisiveness, assertiveness, and the willingness to serve, etc.
A man who’s served in battle is characterized as someone with impressive physical qualities, ensuring he has genes desirable to women. This means he will likely be in good physical shape, good health, etc.
Returning to the Mako story: sperm donation offers a good deal for the guys (no, not getting to beat-off into a plastic cup with the help of girlie magazines), who earn $250 per session. One of these Israeli Hercules notes:
In what other job would you be paid $250 for a half hour’s work [ed., apparently he’s the slow, silent type]?
In a good month, these onanists can earn nearly $700 for doing what comes naturally to young men (and not so young as well). For them, it’s not motivated by the desire to help a woman conceive. Rather, it’s purely an economic calculation, says the article. Soldiers salaries are pitiful and they barely make enough to keep themselves in cigarettes. So sperm donation enables them to enjoy life a bit.
For the women, they believe that inseminating the sperm of these young gents will offer their offspring all the supposedly excellent genetic qualities of the donors; which presumably are guaranteed by their military service.
If this isn’t’ the most cock-eyed articulation of Mendel’s theories of the propagation of the species, I don’t know what is. These women don’t stop to think that they might be producing the next generation of Israeli war criminals: the generals who will drop the bombs on Palestinian children, the assassins who will murder the next Palestinian in his hotel bed. They don’t stop to think that military service guarantees nothing. Do they think that serving in the IDF guarantees they will produce little Samsons and Ari Ben Canaans??
An unnamed source tells the reporter:
Apparently, the Operation aroused in these women decidedly right-wing ideological views, uber-patriotism, and feelings of deep national pride. The stories of battlefield exploits and courage the soldiers showed during their service in Gaza only increased the desire of these women for the sperm of soldiers who fought there.
…Service in a particularly desirable unit makes a big impression on them. They prefer the sperm of those who’ve served in the specially-chosen combat units or intelligence, rather than those who served as desk jockeys…
The women believe that men serving in special units or covert operations inherited their skills from their parents [and will pass it down to their offspring], and this ignites their [the womens’] imagination.
If you’re one of these fellas reading this, you can read Yediot’s article, which offers a sperm bank phone number to begin making your contributions to the next generation of the warrior race!
In the interests of full disclosure, my wife and I conceived with the help of a fertility clinic. We had the experience of choosing a donor to help us conceive and the notion that you will produce a child genius or star athlete, or Nobel Prize winner through carefully culling through the genetic profiles of donors is ridiculous. If you are smart, all you care about is getting the egg or sperm of a healthy person who has average intelligence. After all, what are we aiming for here? Creating the Master Race? And even if you wanted to, would this guarantee it? Of course not. The odds are just as great that you’ll produce a Frankenstein or a golem as an Einstein, a Patton or a MacArthur.
“These ladies preferred not just any seed, but the best of the best: the soldiers who serve in the elite combat units like Shayetet 13, Unit 8200, Sayeret Matkal, combat pilots, paratroopers, etc.”
That’s a reason to try and shame these women?
Shame!
*ring*
Shame!
*ring*
May I respectfully suggest, Richard, that this is not one of your more insightful articles. You could have argued how shamefully Israel treats its soldiers, forcing them to sell their bodies to earn cigarette money (just as it will happily kill them rather than have them be captured, forces them into a civilian policing role without proper training or leadership, and punishes them for displaying any ethical awareness of the role they are forced to play). You could have argued that ultimately Israel exploits its civilian population by an absurd eulogizing of a warrior cult (last seen under notorious Soviet, German and Japanese regimes) which begins before kindergarten and exploits the vulnerabilities of its womenfolk, not to mention the inadequacies that warp the mind of a leading politician who could not live up to the military achievements of his elder brother. Instead you argue that this will create a generation of war-criminals, without demonstrating that aggression, brutality and moral turpitude are genetically transmitted (rather than a product of environment, education and culture) and without demonstrating that candidates for elite units are recruited on the basis of their aggression, brutality and moral turpitude, rather than on the basis of athleticism, unquestioning obedience, disinclination to dissent, and misplaced patriotism (most of which I am sure are inculcated by environment and are not hereditary traits). You surely might just have reasonably have argued that Israel’s womenfolk are being impregnated with the next generation of brave conscientious objectors and spokesmen for Breaking the Silence. War-crimes do not inevitably result from recruitment policies but from the political direction provided by the Cabinet and the objectives, methods and strategies developed by the General Staff. See, for instance, Avraham Burg at http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.615958
@ Bryan: I think you misunderstood what Richard is saying. As far as I understand he’s rather explaining the motivations of these women for chosing soldiers’ sperm rather than his own belief. If not why would they choose soldiers ? And apparently it doesn’t bother these women to use war criminals as procreators so apparently they’re fine with perpetrating that ‘proud tradition’ in the next generation.
PS. Yes, I also thought about some Aryan reproducing programs when I read this.
@Deir
I perfectly understand what Richard is saying.
These women are choosing the physically and mentally strong. Period. Goods looks are also a plus.
I see nothing wrong in this.
Let’s get real. If you’re a women and you had to choose to between Richard Silverstein and a handsome, 23 year old army commander, as a sperm donor, who would you pick? Honestly.
Are you so busy dumping your hasbara here that you don’t even see my comment is not directed at you ? The fact that there is NO link between your comment and mine apparently didn’t make you think twice before ‘responding’. I guess you’re too dump to be used as a sperm donor anyway ….
PS. By the way are you Mitchell Cohen aka Aliyah1995, the settler from Gush Etzion who used to comment here and on 972mag years back ? The guy from Israel Forum who together with fellow commenters there decided to ‘take over’ 972mag also by posting as Islamist commenters ?
@Deir Yassin: nice catch. I love catching these asses at their own game. If you have any further evidence of his past IDs let me know. If I find Mitchell is less than candid in his answers to your questions I will ban him. Also, if he was banned under a past ID & returned here using a different one that is prohibited subterfuge.
BTW, some people are such narcissists they believe everything, including every comment written, is directed to or at them.
@ Mitchell Blood: You appear to be a bear of very little brain. Snark passing for wit annoys me. After your past comment rules violation & this new snark you are moderated. If you violate the rules again you will be banned.
BTW, you appear to equally, or more shallow than those women choosing warrior sperm to create their future offspring. Undoubtedly, you would choose to procreate with Anna Nicole Smith (if she were still alive) over Madame Curie. Your loss.
RE: “If you’re a women and you had to choose to between Richard Silverstein and a handsome, 23 year old army commander, as a sperm donor, who would you pick? Honestly.” ~ Mitchell Blood
MY REPLY: Gosh, that’s a really person question (and very, very awkward to answer), but here goes. Not being a woman, I have never given any thought to what kind of man I would choose to provide 1/2 0f the DNA for my children, but I hope like hell I would pick someone more like Richard Silverstein than Chris Kyle (a/k/a the American Sniper).
I should add that being a man I would select a woman more like Amy Goodman or Hannah Arendt than Victoria Nuland or Gertrude Himmelfarb to provide 1/2 0f the DNA for my children.
Honestly!
SO NOW YOU KNOW! ! !
How about yourself “Mitchell”? Please give us the lowdown (or should I say down-low) on yourself!
“@Deir Yassin: nice catch”
That’s Mitchell ‘Blood’ Greene, not Mitchell Cohen.
Nice whiff.
@ Mitchell: I don’t care whether you’re Mitchell the Settler Superman. You’re on very thin ice. Your next violation and it will be you “whiffing” your third strike (baseball lingo, for the uninitiated).
@ Richard
All I know is that his real name is Mitchell Cohen and that he used to live in a settlement in the Gush Etzion (American who made aliyah). I know this guy commented here because he said so elsewhere but I can’t remember his pen name.
KIbbuztnik (who used to comment here once in a while) posted a link on 972mag years back to this Israel Forum (now closed down) where right-wing extremists, mostly Americans, debatted on how much they hated Leftists, and this MItchell Cohen asked his fellow commenters to help him trolling 972mag, they all hated the site, the Leftist traitors, Lisa Gooldman was called ‘Muslim’, and when Derfner was sacked from the JPost, Mitchell was very happy (I posted some of his comments on 972 from this site).
I don’t know if this is the guy but I’ve been thinking about that since he showed up, the ‘Mitchell’ is maybe just a coincidence.
@ Deir Yassin: He didn’t comment here under the names Mitchell Cohen or the other handle you mentioned. But people like him have scores of IDs they change just like dirty underwear. Probably uses an IP proxy to conceal his trail as well. I note he visits with multiple IP addresses.
He may not be long for this world (meaning this blog). But even if banned, he’d probably show up again like a bad penny. If he doesn’t respond to your claims with a credible statement I will definitely ban him.
Do you remember the name of the Forum? Was it just called “Israel Forum?”
” If he doesn’t respond to your claims with a credible statement I will definitely ban him.”
I told you both that my name is not Mitchell Cohen. I’ll add that I’m not the right wing settler Dier Yassin is obsessing over.
You two should step back and reflect on the maxim, ‘You become what you hate’.
@ Mitchell: No, both Deir Yassin & I hate lies, injustice, conquest, intolerance & prejudice. We don’t hate you. You’re not worth hating. But we (or at least I), dislike what you represent.
” We don’t hate you.”
I understand that you don’t hate me.
You hate the State of Israel, and both of you are becoming those angry, bullying, obsessive, racist, criminals you spend so much time and effort hating.
@ Mitchell:
Bye guy. That’s it. If you’ll review the comment rules, perhaps the most cardinal one is–accusing me of hating Israel gets immediate banning. And you accuse me of being a “criminal” to boot! You’re been warned countless times. THis is it, I’m afraid. Please put your seat backs straight, your tray tables in an upright position, you’re about to land at Ben Gurion on Hasbara Airlines. Send in your replacement when you exit the plane.
@ Richard (late, I missed the response)
Yes, the name of the forum was “Israel Forum” (it’s been closed and is no longer accessible) and in fact on the threat that Kibbuztnik linked to, someone advised the others to use proxy so that they could come back again without being blocked by their IP-adress. I read the very long threat at the time, and it was really useful to see how they worked it all out: people who knew each from Israel Forum ‘discussed’ under different pen names on 972, the founder of Israel Forum, an American convert posting from North or South Carolina, often took Arab pen names and encouraged the others to post as Islamist radicals 🙂 I think about that evertime I read some radical Muslim BS
Well, it seems it’s not this Mitchell anyway.
@ Bryan: I think you’re creating a distinction w/o a difference. Of course, I agree with virtually everything you wrote in your comment and have published similar sentiments in other posts. The fact that I’ve written those thoughts in past posts but not written them here doesn’t mean I don’t believe them. Except for minor differences, I don’t see anything you wrote or I wrote as contradicting each other.
My post was meant as satire. I was using the views of the women themselves to satirize their attitude. If they believe they will create a generation of supermen, it’s just as likely they’ll create a generation of war criminals. Of course they may create conscientious objectors or the prime minister who finally sees the light & resolves the IP conflict. It’s a genetic roll of the dice. The very idea that you can choose genetic traits and pass them along to offspring is ridiculous & offensive. The Nazis tried eugenics and it didn’t work. That was my point.
Thanks for responding Richard. I was perhaps being somewhat harsh, My point was that responsibility for war-crimes does not lie with the common soldiery, even in elite units, but with the top political and military echelons, which mobilise them, direct their activities, indoctrinate them, reward them, cover up for them, all the time inciting violence and victimhood, hatred and denigration of the enemy – whether that be Hamas or human rights organisations or even the President of the nation’s only real ally or a loyal Zionist Judge like Goldstone.
I thought that the doctrine according to which the state is responsible for war crimes by individuals was rejected at Nuremberg. The practical consequence of that doctrine was that, in the end, nobody got punished because there was and is little inclination in the higher echelons of the state to prosecute themselves.
E. van Sliedrecht wrote in a paper based on his/her Ph.D. thesis:
“The Nuremberg Judgement marked the end of the act of State doctrine and the respondeat superior or Befehl ist Befehl theory. According to the former doctrine, propounded most vigorously by Hans Kelsen, no State has jurisdiction over the acts of another State, and accordingly, when an individual in his capacity as an organ of a State violates provisions of international law, the delict should be attributed to that State. The individual cannot be brought to trial before a court of a foreign State. The Befehl ist Befehl theory considers obedience to superior orders an automatic and complete defence against criminal prosecution. It was professed by Oppenheim at the beginning of the twentieth century as follows:
“violations of rules regarding warfare are war crimes only when committed without an order of the belligerent Government concerned. If members of the armed forces commit violations by order of their Government, they are not war criminals and cannot be punished by the enemy; the latter can however, resort to reprisals. In case members of forces commit violations ordered by their commanders, the members may not be punished, for the commanders are alone responsible, and the latter may, therefore, be punished as war criminals on their capture by the enemy.”
Although different in their starting-points, conclusions, and applicability, both doctrines ‘lend international offenders a mantle of immunity from responsibility’. In Nuremberg, the Judges cast both doctrines aside, ending a period in which only States could be held responsible for international offences and in which the individual accountability of a soldier was considered to be a matter of national rather than international law. One could say that in Nuremberg international law had been replaced by international criminal law, a legal system in which the individual rather than the State is a subject to the law.”
@ Bryan: THis is a complicated issue. I’ve just had a rather nasty interchange on Facebook with someone claiming that prosecuting the lowly soldiers is backwards, because it allows the leaders to act with impunity. I don’t agree. I think it has to be a nuanced approach. One must realize that the ones who generally pull the trigger are the ones most likely to be seen & documented with pictures or audio evidence. The leaders tend to conceal their dirty acts behind veneers of secrecy. Of course, we must punish them. But it’s generally harder to accomplish. Takes longer, requires more evidence, research, expense, etc.
The soldiers pulling the trigger get their pictures in the paper. They are the ones providing hard visual evidence of the crimes of the system. SO all of them need to be pursued. And the lowly ones are important because they’re like the fish which stink from the head. They tell us how ugly & criminal the entire system is.
I can’t help thinking of the German Nazi Lebensborn program when I read this blog entry.
■ Lebensborn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lebensborn e.V. (literally: “Fount of Life”) was an SS-initiated, state-supported, registered association in Nazi Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of “Aryan” children via extramarital relations of persons classified as “racially pure and healthy” based on Nazi racial hygiene and health ideology. Lebensborn encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women, and mediated adoption of these children by likewise “racially pure and healthy” parents, particularly SS members and their families. . .
SOURCE – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn
P.S. ALSO SEE: “The Nazi Party: The “Lebensborn” Program (1935 – 1945)”, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
LINK – https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Lebensborn.html
I suspect that when these children grow up they will be ashamed of their fathers’ participation in the war-crimes and ethnic cleansing that have been committed by modern day Israel. By that time, the era of Netanyahu’s Israel will have been condemned by the whole world as an abomination, like Nazi Germany. These poor children will have to live with the stigma of their fathers’ potentially being much maligned war-criminals.
Unit 8200 is not a “combat unit.” It is the hi-tech arm of the IDF intelligence, known mostly for the ability of its alumni to go for big bucks in the hi-tech economy after the military service. This is not to deny that the said unit makes a valuable contribution to Israel’s security (killing in the process far less Palestinians than the other units mentioned in the post), but its clout of popularity derives from its hi-techness, not from a machoistic fighter-posing of its soldiers and officers.
Which tells that the story is not only about warrior-sperm but also (and perhaps basically) about “success-sperm.” Combat military service is one way to be considered “successful,” hi-tech military service (effectively of a boring office-work kind) is another.
Yes, perceiving the military service per se as a mark of success is part of being what you call a national-security state. But commodification of human beings, expressed (among other things) in the desire to conceive babies according to pre-set genetic parameters, is a trouble that runs much deeper, and does not seem to be exclusive to Israel. (The pre-set genetic parameters in question are, in fact, too crude to guarantee anything about the character and the abilities of the prospective babies, which makes the whole thing quite farcical.)
@ Meni: Thanks, I updated & corrected that statement about Unit 8200 last night. Thanks for catching the error. And of course I agree that Israeli women aren’t the only ones who seem to believe in a form of personal eugenics. THe sperm of Nobel Prize laureates probably fetches a huge premium if they’re willing to produce & sell it!! Some sperm I’ve heard fetches $50,000 on the open market. Crazy loco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repository_for_Germinal_Choice
Some people have no sense of humor.