BICOM

Israel’s former-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was yesterday laid to rest at his family’s ranch in southern Israel following a state ceremony at the Knesset in Jerusalem.

Sharon, an iconic Israeli military and political leader, died on Saturday following an eight year stroke-induced coma. He was eulogized in Jerusalem by Israel’s President Shimon Peres who called Sharon “a military legend” but also “a man of the land” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted their political differences but lauded Sharon as “one of the big warriors” of Israel. Leading the tributes paid by foreign dignitaries, US Vice President Joe Biden said Sharon’s “North Star was the survival of the state of Israel, and the Jewish people wherever they resided” a path from which he “never deviated.” Former-Prime Minister Tony Blair also spoke, describing Sharon as “a warrior to create his country, yet wise enough to know that war alone could not secure its future.”

Sharon’s coffin was then transported in a military vehicle to his family’s ranch in southern Israel for burial, stopping briefly en route at the Armoured Corps Memorial in Latrun where he was saluted by top IDF officers during a brief ceremony. Crowds stood alongside the route as the coffin made its way to the burial site where Sharon was laid to rest beside his late wife Lilly, who died in 2000. At a brief ceremony, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz delivered an address, saying “The army will continue to live in your shadow and in your image for many years.” Sharon’s two sons, Gilad and Omri then eulogized their father before eight IDF major generals lowered Sharon’s coffin into the grave.

Shortly after the funeral’s conclusion, two rockets were fired from the nearby Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and landed in open areas in the Shar Hanegev region, just several miles from Sharon’s grave. No damage or injuries were reported. In response, Israel’s Air Force struck two military targets in the Gaza Strip.