News From Israel: Honoring the Memory of Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

BY YIFA YAAKOV January 11, 2014, 4:07 pm Updated: January 11, 2014, 7:47 pm

President Shimon Peres issued a statement eulogizing Sharon shortly after his death, calling the 85-year-old leader a “dear friend” who had “lost his final battle.”

“Arik was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel’s great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision,” Peres said.

“He knew how to take difficult decisions and implement them. We all loved him and he will be greatly missed,” the president said, sending condolences to Sharon’s family.

Later, in a televised statement, Peres hailed Sharon as a “dear and blessed” figure who saw all of Israel as his family. “I will miss him greatly.” He commended Sharon for his readiness to take tough decisions in war and peace, and called him “a unique leader in the annals of our people.” Recalling his military prowess, Peres said that in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Sharon turned “possible defeat into surprise victory.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also eulogized Sharon, saying the entire nation was mourning his passing.

“The State of Israel bows its head over the passing of former prime minister Ariel Sharon,” Netanyahu said in a statement and a video. “His memory will forever be held in the heart of the nation.”

Netanyahu added: “Sharon played a central role in the struggle for Israel’s security throughout its existence. He was, first and foremost, a courageous fighter and a distinguished general, one of the greatest commanders the IDF has ever known.”

“When he left the military, he continued to act on behalf of the people of Israel, both in the capacity of the many roles he filled in Israel’s successive governments and as the country’s eleventh prime minister,” continued the prime minister. “He will forever be remembered.”

Netanyahu hailed Sharon’s decisive role in the 1973 war, turning that conflict in Israel’s favor. He also noted Sharon’s war against terrorism. He did not mention Sharon’s 2005 pullout from Gaza, or other peace efforts, however. Sharon bolted the right-wing Likud to form the centrist Kadima soon after the 2005 Gaza pullout, taking several senior Likud figures with him, leaving Netanyahu to rehabilitate the party.

Netanyahu did include in his tribute a reference to Sharon’s recognition that “the Jewish people must be able to defend itself, by itself, for itself” — a formulation Netanyahu has used in the past when talking about the need to prevent Iran attaining a nuclear weapons capability.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, who followed Sharon into Kadima in 2005 and replaced Sharon as prime minister and Kadima party head after the latter fell into a coma in January 2006, said his predecessor was “one of the state of Israel’s greatest soldiers and warriors before and since it was founded.”

Sharon, said Olmert, had stood “directly in the line of fire throughout his entire life” – first on the frontlines of battle, then on the political frontlines.

“Arik’s life story is fascinating, extraordinary and unique, imbued with courage, human kindness, vision, and leadership,” Olmert continued.

“In the eight years since his collapse, the state of Israel has felt his loss, as have I. He will continue to be missed in the future,” he said.

Olmert added: “There was no one like him, and there may never be.”

Later, in a Channel 2 interview, Olmert said Sharon, a friend for 40 years, “was a man who knew to reveal warmth and friendship, and he also knew how to be tough and uncompromising… He was a leader, he made decisions. He knew how to look you straight in the eye and say things and take responsibility,” Olmert said.  More>

Read more: Netanyahu hails Sharon the fighter, but doesn’t mention peace efforts | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-political-leaders-mourn-great-warrior-extraordinary-leader/#ixzz2q9UTZdPL

The Palestinians Hated Him…

Arab world marks death of Sharon ‘the butcher’

Gazans burn Sharon photos, hand out candies to celebrate his death; Fatah official, HRW regret ex-PM wasn’t tried for war crimes

Palestinian and Arab leaders and media on Saturday marked the death of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon with an outpouring of disgust for the man they termed a “criminal” and “butcher.

Senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub said it was a shame Sharon would never stand trial before an international tribune for his actions.

“Sharon was a criminal, responsible for the assassination of [Palestinian president Yasser] Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the International Criminal Court as a war criminal,” AFP quoted Rajoub saying.

PLO official Dr. Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC that the Palestinians had no positive memories of Sharon.

“Nobody should celebrate any death. But unfortunately I have to say that Mr Sharon left no good memories with Palestinians. Unfortunately he had a path of war and aggression and a great failure in making peace with the Palestinian people,” he said.

Some Palestinians in the Gaza Strip did celebrate Sharon’s death, Safa, the Palestinian press agency, reported. According to the report, residents of Khan Younis took to the streets in celebration of the former Israeli prime minister’s death, burning photos of him and handing out candies to passersby.

From the Author:     Don’t forget that in 2005 , the world watched as the Jews in Gaza being  removed from their homes and their land.  Even the dead Jews were forcibly dug up from their graves and removed from Gaza.   This uprooting of the Jews from their home land was a sad and terrifying event and yet, there is much more to come the Bible says.  NO doubt that Israel will mourn the loss of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for quite some time.  He was not only a friend of Israel – he was a friend of G-d.

The Palestinians have forsaken the WORD of G-d in their effort to take Gaza as though it were theirs.  In the book of Zephaniah,  G-d’s WORD tell us of a sad day like this and warns that Gaza would one day be forsaken.  How can they not know and realize G-d that these are YOUR people and this is YOUR land.  Gaza is the land that was given to the tribe of Judah not to mention that another name for our Messiah is “The Lion of the Tribe of Judah”.  That within itself tells us that Gaza belongs to the Jews.

All of this to say, I don’t think that G-d is very happy with the Palestinians

The Scroll and the Lamb    5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

The Bible links the forsaking of Gaza to the coming ‘Apocalypse,’ which is also called ‘The Day of Wrath’ and the ‘Day of the Lord’s Anger.” Let us read:

Judah Summoned to Repent

Zephaniah 2:1-7 (NIV)
New International Version (NIV)

Philistia

 Read more: Arab world marks death of Sharon ‘the butcher’ | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-mark-death-of-sharon-the-butcher/#ixzz2q9XRZyn2