That is a good, balanced study. Some of the military and much of the political reasons are for a later date, but the current generation should be aware of events of the 1930’s, 1940’s, and since. Especially remember 1948, the year the borders of Israel were decided by the world’s civilized nations, borders that should be recognized today. The West Bank is Palestinian-Occupied Israel and should be so declared in the media. Attempts for recognition of rights, all held by Israel, were dashed by followers of Islam led by Arafat’s calling for land for peace, like, “Your money or your life.” How about peace for peace? Arafat was a terrorist to other Moslems and had to be driven out of Jordan with 20,000 of his followers killed in one month. No world outrage then.

marblenecltr on January 12, 2014 at 10:01 am

Baruch Dayan Emet
I too have mixed feeling re Ariel Sharon.
In the first half of his life he was truly a brilliant and legendary leader. He was in many ways the epitome of the new Jew, a strong and proud defender of Israel and the Jewish people.
In one of his meetings with the Lubavicher Rebbe in New York the Rebbe advised him never to give up an inch of Jewish land.
His actions in his political career I will never understand. Gaza is now a launching pad for terrorism.
I still honor Sharon the military hero.

Paula Malka on January 12, 2014 at 10:11 am

Ariel Sharon z”l is recognized as one of the world’s and history’s greatest military leaders. He was singularly responsible for leading the defeat of Egypt’s Third Army in 1973. When, in 2005, he ordered JEWs to evict other JEWs from Gaza, paving the way for the hamas state of Gaza, I also mourned for the error.
May he Rest In Peace.

Judy Silver-Shapiro on January 12, 2014 at 11:25 am

This is exactly the balanced analysis and obituary I expected I would read from you DS, thank you for that. Overall a patriot and fighter through much of modern Israel’s history, but really a severe mistake as PM.

Brian R. on January 12, 2014 at 11:29 am

Thank you Debbie, for very well informed article.I am thankful to come here to find the real story.The good and the bad. Everytime something has to do with Gaza,the results are never for the better and things only get worse. Again thank you.

Steve on January 12, 2014 at 11:43 am

“…Ariel Sharon, Zichrono LiVrachaha [Of Blessed Memory]. The one who died a decade ago, not the one who gave away Gaza and kicked Israelis out of Israel land and homes. That one, the father of HAMASastan–for him, I shall not shed a single tear….”

Thanks, Debbie, I needed that. The evacuations Sharon had a hand in– both hands– weigh heavily on the dark side in the balance of the great general’s legacy. But the thought of pre-Gaza Sharon fires up a candle in my mind bright enough to squint my eyes to slits and warm through to the heart of me.

lee of the lower case "l" on January 12, 2014 at 11:44 am

Mea Achuz, Debbie! Thanks for saying it like it is.

[To my readers: “Mea Achuz” is “100%” in Hebrew. DS]

Meira on January 12, 2014 at 12:39 pm

Debbie, I like and respect almost all that you do but shame on you for giving this Jabba the Hutesque beast Judaism’s greatest blessing upon his death. Ariel Sharon was a monster and a butcher in every sense of the word:

–He expelled thousands of Jews from their homes and gave 2/3 of Israel back to Egypt when he was the commander of the IDF in the early 1980s.

–He masterminded the disastrous First Lebanon War and his politically correct rules of engagement led to over 1,000 Israeli military deaths for nothing. He also refused to touch Yasser Arafat.

–He sat around doing nothing during the Second Intifada, blowing up empty buildings as “retaliation” for hundreds of shahidist bombings or mass shootings of buses, restaurants, kindergartens, etc.

–He ethnically cleansed thousands of Jews from their homes in summer of 2005, oversaw the torture of peaceful Israeli dissidents to this treason by Shabak agents, and handed even more of Israel over to the Amalekite enemy.

As Chaim Ben Pesach says this was a murderous Nazi beast. He was not halachically Jewish either.

Ariel Sharon, YIMACH SHEMO VEZICHRO, SHEM RESHAYIM YIRKAV.

martin on January 12, 2014 at 12:58 pm

Ariel Sharon became a leftist to get out of an indictment that was going to be issued against corrupt children. Instead of upholding the law and letting them be held accountable, he turned around and punished innocent people who had nothing to do with his family’s personal problems. He didn’t ask them for forgiveness before a stroke took him down – I believe he could have done that on Yom Kippur on 2005 and he certainly had a couple of months after that to make the necessary amends to those whom he had hurt. If he had done that, he would not have lived out his last years in a coma.

Debbie is spot-on in saying he is in many ways the father of Hamastan! The Israeli political class is even more insistent on giving away Jewish land to terrorists who seek to destroy Israel. I’m afraid Israel is learning all the wrong lessons from Sharon’s life and death. Not doing evil is the most important one of all.

What has stayed with me is the course Israel is locked into – that Sharon helped to perpetuate in letting the Oslo War go on and allowing thousands of Jews to needlessly die before the Netanya Hotel Passover Massacre finally forced him to act – will also be on his head. He had two chances in his life to take out the arch-mass murderer Arafat and he refused to make good on them. We are told in our time judging people is in bad form and we must avoid hurting their feelings.

The Bible sends us the contrary message. Even the greatest Jews in history are named and shamed by G-d and they amended their ways. I would have liked very much to remember Sharon as the valiant war hero he was. That would always be to his everlasting credit. And none of us is judging his sins against G-d; that is between Him and his Maker. But we have the duty and the right to judge him for he did to other people – and he also desecrated the graves of the Jewish dead by disturbing their eternal rest for no good reason.

Making people homeless and uprooting scores of Jews from their Land is something that was never done in all of Jewish history. I cannot forget the evil he did to the people living in Yamit, the Gush Katif and the Northern Shomron! It was an act of appalling cruelty that exceeded all the bounds of human decency in this world. And I’m not allowed to forgive him because that is not my place – we can forgive only those we have hurt. All above are reasons why I cannot joining in the mourning for Sharon.

His betrayal of the Jewish people that brought Hamas to Israel’s doorstep should always be held against him! And we can learn even good people can be led astray on a path they should never take. And when G-d doesn’t like something we do that makes others cry out unto Him – He lets us know that is also His business. Sharon announced the expulsion of the Jews on the 10th of Shevat ten years ago. Its kind of fitting he died exactly ten years to the day it happened!

Our lives are not free of Divine Providence. Our freedom of will meets certain consequences in this world. Sharon in the end forgot the answer to the question G-d asked of Cain. And now while Cain didn’t intentionally murder his own brother, he still refused to take moral responsibility for he did – and according to Jewish tradition, he was forced to wander the rest of life in exile before he finally paid the price for the evil he did! Sharon was far worse; he knew what he did was wrong and he allowed his power to go to his head – and you could imagine G-d saying, “enough!”

And so He stopped Sharon from harming Israel still further! To go back to the consequences that he met, there was the stroke, vegetative coma and complete loss of any presence as a human being. Such as the wages of our sins in this world – it takes real evil for that kind of punishment to be a person’s lot! Its not a fitting example in how to live and how to die. Above all, Sharon forgot he was his “Brother’s Keeper.” May we all avoid his miserable fate and heed that lesson!

NormanF on January 12, 2014 at 1:19 pm

April 14, 2004 Ariel Sharon formally announced a plan to withdraw all settlers and military personnel from Gaza in a letter to President George W. Bush.

On June 6, 2004 Tokhnit HaHitnatkut the “Disengagement plan”, or the “Gaza expulsion plan” is adopted by the Israeli government under the sponsorship of the Ariel Sharon administration.

On August 15, 2005 (10th of Av, 5765) the evacuation commenced. At 8 a.m., a convoy of security forces entered Neve Dekalim and began evacuating residents. Although many settlers chose to leave peacefully, others were forcibly evicted. The evacuations of six settlements then commenced as 14,000 Israeli soldiers and police officers forcibly evicted settlers. They went house to house, ordering settlers to leave and breaking down the doors of those who did not. Some of the soldiers were also observed sobbing, and there were instances of soldiers joining settlers in prayer before evicting them. Some settlers lit their homes on fire as they evacuated so as to leave the Palestinians nothing. Settlers blocked roads, lit fires, and pleaded with soldiers to disobey orders.

On August 17, 2005 the settlement of Morag was evacuated by 200 police officers.

On August 18, Shirat HaYam was evacuated by military and police forces. A number of people also barricaded themselves in the synagogue and public buildings and on a deserted rooftop. Security forces stormed the rooftop and arrested settlers without any violence.

On August 22, Netzarim was evacuated by the Israeli military. This officially marked the end of the 38-year-long presence of Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip, though the official handover (to the Palestinian Authority) was planned for several weeks later.

August 23, 2005 Tropical Depression Twelve forms over the southeastern Bahamas on, as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten.

On the morning of August 24 the system was upgraded to tropical storm status and at this point was given the name “Katrina.” The tropical storm continued to move towards Florida.

August 25, 2005 it becomes a hurricane only two hours before making landfall. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering the Gulf of Mexico.

August 27, 2005 the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification, but caused the storm to nearly double in size. Katrina again rapidly intensified, attaining Category 5 status on the morning of August 28 and reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC that day, with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 902 mbar (26.6 inHg).
It was also the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico at the time. This record was later broken by Hurricane Rita.

On August 28, the IDF began dismantling Gush Katif’s 48-grave cemetery. All of the bodies were removed by special teams of soldiers supervised by the Military Rabbinate and reburied in locations of their families’ choosing.

August 29, 2005 Katrina made its second landfall at 1110 UTC (6:10 a.m. CDT), as a Category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. After moving over southeastern Louisiana, it made its third landfall near the Louisiana/Mississippi border with 120 mph (195 km/h) sustained winds, still at Category 3 intensity. Katrina maintained strength well into Mississippi, finally losing hurricane status more than 150 miles (240 km) inland near Meridian, Mississippi. It was downgraded to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee.

Katrina’s storm surge caused 53 different levee breaches in greater New Orleans, submerging eighty percent of the city. The storm surge also devastated the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, making Katrina the most destructive and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. The total damage from Katrina is estimated at $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars), nearly double the cost of the previously most expensive storm, Hurricane Andrew.
The confirmed death toll (total of direct and indirect deaths) was 1,836. 135 people remain categorized as missing.

On September 11, 2005 a ceremony was held when the last Israeli flag was lowered in the IDF’s Gaza Strip divisional headquarters. All remaining IDF forces left the Gaza Strip in the following hours.

The mismanaged evacuation, recovery and relief following Katrina rightly or wrongly became a public relations nightmare for the Bush administration and was superceded only by the financial collapse of 2008.

January 4, 2006 Ariel Sharon suffered a hemorrhagic stroke that left him in a coma until his death eight years later.

Any attempts to draw connections between the above events are no doubt the products of a confused and disturbed mind characterized by magical and superstitious thinking patterns.

(G-d help us if we force Israel back to its pre-1967 borders)

Nutzos on January 12, 2014 at 2:13 pm

So fresh on the heel’s of Sharon’s soul’s placement in G-d’s hands, my mind tends to run in this direction:

Decades ago, in his heavily accented benign tone of voice Sharon sat for an hour long interview with the glib ever gag inducing Phil Donahue. I though it would be a disaster for Sharon and Israel’s image, as well. The hour stamped itself memorable in my mind for the calm, affable, confident, and competent soldier of Israel that came across under Donahue’s subtle anti-Israel slant. Donahue was probably bursting with anticipated pleasure waiting for his gotcha moment. He’d get, he thought, the Israeli spokesman to –oops–break, if only indirectly, Israeli policy of no talk with the PLO. He asked Sharon what he should ask Arafat in his upcoming sit-down with the PLO chairman. Sharon wasn’t to be had by dragon slayer Donahue. He replied, with a not entirely hidden expression of contempt for Donahue on his face, without missing a beat. The interview was years ago, I saw it only that once, so I paraphrase Sharon’s answer. He replied, “You’re a smart interviewer, Phil, you’ll know what to ask him.” The general stepped through Donahue’s minefield with the greatest of ease.

lee of the lower case "l" on January 12, 2014 at 2:21 pm

Great article, Debbie.

DS_ROCKS! on January 12, 2014 at 2:30 pm

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/seven-years-on-gush-katif-remains-an-unsettled-question-1.458355

so many brave people homeless

jerry1804 on January 12, 2014 at 2:30 pm

Excellent article about former PM Sharon. He was an incredible military leader. Israel must pay homage to his achievement.
Once he became PM., his role changed to politician and all politicians must listen to everyone within the borders. Evicting Israelis from Gaza was a political decision and as such, always unpopular to part of the public.

Steve Gardality on January 12, 2014 at 2:39 pm

The quote “his legacy is acting like a Nazi.” ,from your above article or note is way over the top. It is wrong, misplaced, exaggerated, and unnecessarily vicious.

FS on January 12, 2014 at 3:15 pm

I remember Ariel Sharon as the soldier he was – that’s all. We were about to lose in ’73 and it was the soldier in him that kept us alive. Gaza wouldn’t have mattered as the dream of Israel would’ve ended in that war.

He made a lousy PM for sure. Sometimes the best decisions are the ones never made as the situation can go from bad to worse – you hear that Bibi?

Fred on January 12, 2014 at 4:39 pm

“Ariel Sharon, Zichrono LiVrachaha [Of Blessed Memory]. The one who died a decade ago, not the one who gave away Gaza and kicked Israelis out of Israel land and homes. That one, the father of HAMASastan–for him, I shall not shed a single tear.

Nothing else to add besides what others have piped in, except: I presume the proper memorialization for the Sharon who was “the father of HAMASastan” would be “R.I.H.”?

ConcernedPatriot on January 12, 2014 at 5:36 pm

I learned Sharon everything he know’d about scrappin’ but here’s the deal: great genals don’t make great pollytishens. Lookee here at U.S. Grant after the civil war or Eisenhower after w w two. Miss Debbie told yall purdy much right.

bucktoothed hillbilly on January 12, 2014 at 8:11 pm

Ariel Sharon’s legacy is the living breathing Jewish State which he served with great dedication and valor.

Gaza was a tactical mistake; not necessarily a “betrayal”. The withdrawal was likely done under great pressure from the Bush Administration and Condi Clueless.

There is NO Santa Claus on January 12, 2014 at 9:36 pm

Debbie says “Ariel Sharon, Zichrono LiVrachaha [Of Blessed Memory]. The one who died a decade ago, not the one who gave away Gaza and kicked Israelis out of Israel land and homes”.

Martin says “Ariel Sharon, YIMACH SHEMO VEZICHRO, SHEM RESHAYIM YIRKAV.” (I need a translation on that, BTW.)

I would say both at the same breath.

And as one poster in this thread had asked…

To those who would honor Sharon the military hero, would you also honor Benedict Arnold a Revolutionary War hero who turned traitor, fought with the British and caused the deaths of many Colonials?

I’d ask the same, too.

The Reverend Jacques on January 12, 2014 at 10:09 pm

A good balanced obituary on Ariel Sharon, Debbie.

JeffE on January 12, 2014 at 10:18 pm

I agree w/ just about everything above. It was sad watching Sharon change course when that airhead of a president – Bush – started putting pressure for a Pali state. A president who refused to recognize Muzzies as being the perpetrators of 9/11

What a contrast for the man who once said, ‘When it comes to national security, there are no hawks or doves – there are only Jews’.

Infidel on January 13, 2014 at 12:44 am

I was impressed by the heartfelt reactions to his death by so many of the world’s leaders. Especially touching were the sorrowful reactions of Israel’s Palestinian peace partners. I’m sure that Secretary Kerry, Vice-President Biden and President Obama will see these deeply felt reactions as one more harbinger of the overcoming of anti-semitism and the desire of so many of the world’s nations to welcome Israel to their ranks.

Little Al on January 13, 2014 at 8:29 am

Agreed. In the end, he proved to be one of the Erev Rav.

David on January 13, 2014 at 9:54 am

Debbie – I’ll assume that line about Sharon “starting up with” the Arabs by visiting the Temple Mount was an error. By now, it is well known that the rioting was planned well in advance of Sharon’s visit, and the visit was merely an excuse for the timing. EVERY Israeli Prine Minister should visit the Temple Mount on a regular basis, as a prelude to allowing free Jewish worship on Judaism’s holiest site, and the eventual rebuilding of the Temple there.

PS: Yes, it is well known the Second Intifada was planned well in advance, and I never said otherwise, but thanks for the incorrect correction. (However, Sharon gave them an excuse to pin it on.) And Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount was entirely fraudulent, since he strictly enforced unfair, ridiculous laws that violated the civil rights of Jews who wanted to visit the Temple Mount and pray there. Please tell me what the point of the visit was? This was a guy who never finished the fights with Muslims and instead kowtowed to them ultimately, ever since he became Prime Minister. To date, Jews are NOT allowed to pray there, not allowed to even mouth words, and so on. Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount could have no other purpose but PR and provocation, since he NEVER did anything about the Temple Mount or the Jews who wanted to pray there. Since you are questioning me on this, perhaps I should have noted, as I well know, that the Second Intifada was planned in advance, but, as you know, this fraud Sharon deliberately did things like this, but then never backed them up, forcing Jews out of their homes instead. I do not agree that every Israeli Prime Minister should make a similarly hypocritical visit to the Temple Mount, until and unless they are willing to take measures to ensure Jewish safety and civil rights in their visits there (or reclaim the place altogether–it was largely abandoned when under Muslim control). Otherwise, what the heck is the point? Substance over symbolism is key. DS

phillip slepian on January 13, 2014 at 11:32 am

Sharon is the perfect example of what happens when good people start worrying about their legacy and what others say about them when they get older. I also think Sharon was tired of war and so desperately wanted a permanent peace for Israel that he lost his good sense and signed a terrible deal and gave away Gaza.
I heard a Rabbi the other day on TV make a very astute statement. He said that until the Palistinians accept that the state of Israel is here to stay and truly want peace then there can never truly be peace. You cannot negotiate and have peace with someone who wants to kill you and wants you dead.
Sharon forgot that important fact and tarnished his legacy in the process. It should be a lesson to all.

jimmyPx on January 13, 2014 at 1:01 pm

Debbie,

Your post reminded of the controversy over Gaza in 2005. Sharon should have known this was a mistake when the MSM/DNC continually referred to Israel giving Gaza “back” to “the Palestinians” – as if Gaza had ever been in “Palestinian” hands before. (It was controlled by Egypt before Israel liberated it in one of the recent wars). Also, click here for an explanation of how disastrous such an equivalent concession would have been (and often was) during the cold war.

salt1907 on January 13, 2014 at 1:11 pm

Final Words on Sharon By Miko Peled

I never understood how people could rejoice at the news of a person’s death. I happened to be in the UK when Margaret Thatcher died so I witnessed the celebrations. The expressions of joy as the news of the Iron Lady’s death spread around the country shocked me at first, as people were actually throwing parties to celebrate her death. As I visited different parts of the country, particularly Wales and Ireland, it occurred to me that when Ariel Sharon dies we may see similar outbursts of joy taking place.

Sharon has been in a coma since January 2006 when he suffered several brain hemorrhages that left him in a vegetative state. But now there is news that his kidneys are failing and concerns are expressed in Israel that there is a chance he will die soon.

One can imagine the long eulogies we will have to endure once he is laid to rest: “A hero,” “a great leader,” “a military genius,” all of this will be said and more. The press will recount every military achievement, ever battle he won, every enemy, both military and political that he defeated. His resolve as Israel’s leader will be heralded, and, we will be told, he will be remembered for giving his all to his country.

In my book, The General’s Son, Journey of an Israeli in Palestine, I mention Sharon several times, in his capacity as a military man who was cruel, brilliant and reckless, then as defense minister and finally as prime minister. But it is important to set the record straight about this man before the nauseating outpour of condolences, replete with hypocrisy and lies, that are sure to follow his death.

Ariel Sharon was an ambitious man. He was brutal, greedy, uncompromising and dishonest. He possessed an insatiable appetite for power, glory and fortune. His tendencies as a cold-blooded, merciless killer were evident from early on in his career when he commanded the Israeli army’s Unit 101 in the 1950’s. Unit 101 was an infamous commando brigade with special license to kill and terrorize Palestinians. It operated mostly in Gaza, but also in other parts of the country and beyond. Unit 101 was so brutal in its practices, and claimed so many innocent lives, that even by Israeli standards it was thought to have gone too far and the unit was eventually disbanded.

Sharon went on to be promoted to other commands in the Israeli army earning a name for himself as a promising commander and all were expecting that he would one day be the Israeli army’s top commander, or Chief of Staff. But this was one job he never got, he did better. Sharon entered politics and was nominated to be Defense Minister under Prime Minister Menachem Begin. In that capacity he lead Israel’s catastrophic invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

This invasion left countless Lebanese and Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced. Sharon was also behind the massacres that took place in September of that year in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps near Beirut, and here once again, even by Israeli standards Sharon had gone too far and was removed from office.

Though Sharon was reprimanded for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and was prevented from serving as defense minister, his political career continued nevertheless and his sphere of influence grew. As minster of Housing and Development he contributed more than any other to the racist, anti Palestinian policies and the corruption within the ministry. It is claimed that during his tenure the ministry’s budget was without limits, exceeding Israel’s entire defense budget. He used his full weight to achieve the colonization and displacement Palestinians from what used to be the West Bank.

Surely the most absurd thing ever said about Sharon, is that he was a man of peace. That he “left” Gaza and that he “gave” Gaza back to the Palestinians. That he did it for peace and in return all Israel received were rockets fired from Gaza. The Israeli disengagement from Gaza was a cynical, unilateral move. It allowed Sharon to get the Israeli settlers in Gaza out of his way, close Gaza like a prison and score a few political points with the US administration. It was a cruel move that allowed him to further suffocate the people of Gaza, people that he was determined to destroy from early on in his violent career. But the proud Palestinians would not surrender and served as a constant reminder of the blood with which his hands are stained.

One could go on and on about Sharon and his crimes. As he lay dying, perhaps within days or minutes of his final breath, we must all remember his victims, the countless dead, wounded and displaced and remind the world that this man was not a hero but a criminal.

As I write these words Ariel Sharon is still alive, if one can call it that, and in many ways the state in which he lives now could be the hell he so richly deserves.

Basim Daoud on January 13, 2014 at 1:38 pm

We need the Temple Mount. The Dome of the Rock must be bulldozed off there. Yes, it will likely start WWIII or so it would seem but the prophecies must be fulfilled.

I am really getting to where I can’t stand O’Reilly. He comes up with these overly simplistic ideas then convinces himself that they are true then won’t listen to anyone else. It’s arrogance. Plain and simple.

wjm on January 13, 2014 at 2:08 pm

Mess with the bull you get the dozer.

Gruno Jacoby on January 13, 2014 at 4:55 pm

Debbie, You are 100% correct. He was a great man in the beginning , until he collapsed under American pressure and leftist blackmail. The media in Israel is full of his military successes, but leaves out the mess he left behind. The Hamas gave him a final sendoff by launching yet more rockets into Israel during his funeral, from Gaza. I remember Eric telling the people of Gush Katif that Gush Katif was just as Israeli as Tel Aviv, then he turned around and stabbed them in the back! He set a dangerous precedent and the people of Israel pay every day for his folly. He did more to encourage the enemies of Israel, seeing Jews destroying their own cities, than any other leader.

Paul on January 13, 2014 at 5:27 pm

Contender for next SecGen of the UN:

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/lifestyle/9136-iranian-man-goes-60-years-without-a-bath

Nick Fury on January 13, 2014 at 6:42 pm

We would not be having this discussion if it were not for Sharon’s brilliant leadership in the Yom Kippur War. Officers in the IDF are known for leading soldiers under their command into battle rather than giving orders from the rear.

Paula Malka on January 13, 2014 at 7:12 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen:

For whatever mistakes he made, I continue to comfort the mourners of Zion over the loss of Ariel Sharon. Ariel Sharon is dead.

Since some of you are determined to shame a war hero who is dead, I might remind you that there are plenty of other war heroes alive who continue to develop policy antagonistic toward Israel and Jews. John McCain is routinely described as a “war hero”. John Kerry is referred to by his supporters as a “war hero”.

Why spend your efforts debating history and a “war hero” who is dead? There are all kinds of “war heroes” running around the USA who have sold out to the Saudi Petrochemical lobby. They are alive, well, and working daily to advance domestic and foreign policy that hurts Israel. They have successfully leveraged their status as “war hero” to obtain political power without doing a fraction for the USA compared to that which Ariel Sharon did for Israel.

Heck! Just a few weeks ago, a former NFL cheerleader was hailed as a “war hero” by the news media merely for following her orders to “be kind to Muslims”. Wanna bet she runs for Congress some day?

How much time and energy do you want to spend on the dead guy who really fought the fight and faced the peril? The War Against Israel has not taken a “time out” to mourn Ariel Sharon.

We talked about Ariel Sharon’s policies years ago! The facts on the ground are here and now. Today, there are other “war heroes” claiming to support Israel and really don’t. What are you doing about that?

Seems to me, a lot of you are criticizing a dead guy who can’t do anything for or against Israel while the living press on their War Against Israel.

I encourage you not to lament on the past. The perils of the present are too great. The number of people who support the Jewish State are too few.

As the period of mourning passes, let it finish with: “And now we return to our regularly scheduled program”.

Time’s a-wastin’

Sincerely,

There is NO Santa Claus (aka TINSC)

There is NO Santa Claus on January 13, 2014 at 11:38 pm

I wonder what made him change so much. He went from defending Israel at all odds to just giving it away. I heard he felt bad about the massacre in Lebanon. Maybe he kept trying to make up for it by reversing course? I can’t imagine he would give away a nation he risked his life for just to get a Nobel Prize. It seems like a cheap token in exchange for your soul.

Jews tend to be weak minded. The will follow Moses out of the desert willingly just so far. Then they start to whine that it is not looking good and they would rather go back to Egypt. Did he just lose heart in the end? Did the massacre in the refugee camps drive him to reverse all his old beliefs?

There was a video done by Journeyman Pictures that showed Lebanese saying that after the massacres, the men were called to go to gather in a stadium for protection. They went because they trusted the IDF soldiers who called them. Then the soldiers just turned them over to the Christian militia and they were never heard from again.

His death does mark the end of an era. He is the last prime minister who was there for the war of independence in 1948. He knew what the struggle was. I think modern Israelis forget.

bb on January 14, 2014 at 1:38 am

Debbie, as I look at the page today, I see an ad, headed “Support my Sponsors,” which is quite revealing, so to speak. It is titled “One Weird Trick to Stay Asleep.” It is accompanied by a voluptuous women in black with a revealing neckline showing just a bit if, shall I say, nipple. I doubt this would help me stay asleep. Quite the opposite.

JeffT on January 14, 2014 at 12:30 pm