Israel bids farewell to Ariel Sharon

JERUSALEM — Israel’s political and military elite, foreign dignitaries including US Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and family members flanked the coffin of Israels former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday at a state funeral ceremony in the plaza in front of Israel’s Parliament building, which was washed with winter sun. Sharon died on Saturday at 85, eight years after a stroke felled him at the height of his power and left him in a state of minimal consciousness. The funeral procession was to proceed south, passing through a guard of honor at the strategic fort of Latrun in an area where Sharon was severely wounded in a fierce battle in 1948, and on to Sycamore Ranch, Sharon’s farm near the border with Gaza, where he was to be laid to rest on a rise named Anemone Hill next to his late wife, Lily. The somber official ceremony opened with the chanting of psalms and a traditional Jewish prayer for the dead by the military’s chief cantor. The first to eulogize Sharon was Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, 90, who was both a lifelong friend of Sharon and, at various turns, a political rival and ally. Sharon, one of Israel’s most polarising figures, was long reviled internationally for his aggressive military doctrine and episodes like a 1953 reprisal attack against the West Bank village of Qibya, then under Jordanian rule, in which 69 Palestinian civilians were killed, and his role, as defence minister, in the massacres in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon in 1982. Human rights groups denounced Sharon as a war criminal. But Sharon is also admired for his daring, decisive leadership and his pragmatism that allowed him to adapt to changing realities. After the Lebanon debacle he managed to rehabilitate himself politically and eventually return to the helm as a strong and popular prime minister. He went from being a major patron and builder of Jewish settlements to a man who forced their evacuation. In 2005 he unilaterally withdrew all Israeli settlers and forces from Gaza and he was believed to have been planning further moves in the West Bank when he fell ill. Joe Biden said, “He left us too soon. The work of trying to reach peace continues.” Several speakers alluded to his contentious legacy. Referring to Sharon by his nickname, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I did not always agree with Arik and he did not always agree with me, but when he served in my government and when I served in his government, we worked together for the sake of Israel’s security and economy.” He added that Sharon’s contribution to Israel was inscribed in the pages of history. Tony Blair, the former British prime minister who is now a Middle East envoy, said that Sharon always “charged” forward. “He could leave considerable debris in his wake,” he said, “but always his destination was clear as was his motivation.” In this, Blair said, Sharon was “a standard-bearer.” Other foreign dignitaries in attendance included Jiri Rusnok, the prime minister of the Czech Republic; Julie Bishop, the foreign minister of Australia; and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German foreign minister. Sarit Hadad, a popular Israeli singer, sang a mournful Israeli ballad at the ceremony, “We Are Both From the Same Village,” remembering the casualties of war.

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Israel bids farewell to Ariel Sharon