By Marney Blom
Yesterday’s passing of Israel’s 11th Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, after nearly eight years in a coma has drawn the nation into a time of reflection.
National pride has surfaced as Israel remembers Sharon — the one who bravely defended the fledgling state during the war of Israeli Independence, the Suez Crisis, and the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars. Warrior Sharon is remembered as the greatest field commander in Israel’s history, and a brilliant military strategist. Since Ariel’s name means “lion,” Israelis have in the past, nicknamed their former Major General “The King of Israel.”During this morning’s start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks followed suit: “I believe that he will be remembered in the heart of the Jewish peoples forever as one of our most outstanding leaders and most daring commanders … [one who] represents the generation of Jewish warriors … that arose upon the resumption of our independence.”
But for others, the memory of Ariel Sharon has resurrected painful images of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. For the Israeli settlers who were forcibly uprooted from their homes and farms, there is no solace in the reality of the current state of Gaza as an Hamas-run terrorist enclave. The thousands of rockets and mortars that have been fired on Israel from Gaza since the 2004-2005 withdrawal are evidence to many of a serious miscalculation on the part of the former PM. What’s more, Sharon was on course to “clear Israel out of most of the West Bank” in a series of unilateral withdrawals, had his newly formed “Likud” party won the upcoming elections. But the stroke he suffered on January 4, 2006 and the subsequent coma put an end to that.
Fast forward eight years, and Israel is once again toying with the idea of giving up the majority of land won during the Six-Day War of 1967 – land known today as the West Bank. The frequent visits of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have only one focus: to leave the current U.S. administration with the legacy of solving the Middle East Peace Crisis. And land for peace is a key bargaining chip.
The passing of 85-year-old Sharon, may give Israel an opportunity to reflect and applaud the bravery and dedication of their military heroes in ensuring the survival of their tiny democracy, but it may also be a timely reminder. Giving away Israeli soil does not necessarily guarantee peace. In the case of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, it now means long-range Iranian-built Fajr-5 missiles can reach Jerusalem.