Copyright: Reuters... Like all historic leaders, Prime Minister Sharon was a complex man about whom, as you’ve already heard from his colleagues, who engendered strong opinions from everyone. But like all historic leaders, all real leaders, he had a North Star that guided him - a North Star from which he never, in my observation, never deviated. His North Star was the survival of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, wherever they resided.
In talking about his spiritual attachment to the land of Israel back in an interview in the late ‘90s, he said, and I quote, “Before and above all else, I am a Jew. My thinking is dominated by the Jews’ future in 30 years, in 300 years, in a thousand years. That’s what preoccupies and interests me first and foremost.” And because he possessed such incredible physical courage - and I would add political courage - he never, never, never deviated from that preoccupation and interest, as he referred to it. It was his life’s work that even someone on the shores hundreds of - thousands of miles from here could see, could smell, could taste, could feel, and when you were in his presence there was never, never any doubt about it.
The physical courage he had to lead men straight into enemy lines and deep behind them. I remember, as a young senator, that iconic picture of him with that bandage around his head, standing there after a decisive victory, which seemed to symbolize, as Bibi - as the Prime Minister said, an Israel that had reclaimed its roots of standing up and fighting, needing no help, standing on its own. The political courage it took, whether you agreed with him or not, when he told 10,000 Israelis to leave their homes in Gaza in order, from his perspective, to strengthen Israel. I can’t think of much more controversial; as a student of the Jewish state, I can’t think of a much more difficult and controversial decision that’s been made. But he believed it and he did it.
The security of his people was always Arik’s unwavering mission, an unbreakable commitment to the future of Jews, whether 30 years or 300 years from now. We have an expression in the States: never in doubt. Arik was never uncertain from my observation. I don’t know him nearly as well as the Israeli people and his colleagues, but he seemed never in doubt. But there were times when he acted, and those actions earned him controversy and even condemnation. And in certain instances, American leaders - American Presidents - had profound differences with him, and they were never shy about stating them nor was he ever shy about stating his position. As I said, from my observation he was a complex man, but to understand him better I think it’s important history will judge he also lived in complex times, in a very complex neighborhood....
Prime Minister Sharon was not only loved by the Jewish people, he not only loved them - the Jewish people - but he loved the land of Israel. Not just the idea of it, but the actual land itself. Born on a farm, about to be buried on a farm, a ranch, I remember one of the meetings I had with him. It was a somewhat heated, and he had his maps. And he spread them out in his office again. And I somewhat irreverently said, Mr. Prime Minister - I said, do you want me to do it, or are you going to do it? Because I had heard his presentation many times. And in the midst of it, he looked at me, and he said, let me tell you about the new calf that I just got on my ranch. And he started talking about a calf.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Book of Genesis says, “Arise and walk the length and breadth of the land.” Arik Sharon did just that. He tilled it as a farmer. He fought for it as a soldier. He knew every hilltop and valley - every inch of the land. As I said, he loved his maps. He used to come to the meetings with maps of the land rolled up under each arm. There were always maps.
I’m reminded - if you’ll forgive me - of an Irish poet, an Irish writer. I’m sure Prime Minister Blair will forgive me. That Irish writer was James Joyce. And he said, “When I die, Dublin will be written on my heart.” I am absolutely sure the land of Israel, the Negev is etched in Arik Sharon’s soul as it was written on Joyce’s heart.
And the defining attributes of this great man’s character - passion for the Jewish people, physical and political courage, and love of this land - they have all played out on the canvas of the State of Israel’s historic trajectory.
Arik Sharon’s journey and the journey of the State of Israel are inseparable. They are woven together, in war, in politics, in diplomacy.
Toward the end of his life, he said, I've been everywhere. I've met kings, queens, presidents. “I've been around the world. I have one thing that I would like to do: to try to reach peace.”
We’ll never know what the ultimate arc of Arik Sharon’s life would have been had he been physically able to pursue his stated goal. That will be for historians to speculate and debate. But we do know this: As prime minister, he surprised many. I’ve been told that, in reflecting on the difference between how he viewed things as a general and as prime minister, he would paraphrase an Israeli song lyric that said, things you see from here, look different from over there. What would have - what would they have looked like had he lived in good health and led those eight years?
He left us too soon, but the work of trying to reach peace continues. And to quote Shakespeare: He was a man, take him all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.
[
Full text]