ISRAEL: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is among the foreign dignitaries attending a state memorial service and burial ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

Record ID: 397971

  • Title: ISRAEL: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is among the foreign dignitaries attending a state memorial service and burial ceremony for former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
  • Date: 13th January 2014
  • Summary: BEN GURION AIRPORT, ISRAEL (JANUARY 13, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CONVOY CARRYING U.S. VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN LEAVING AIRPORT SYCAMORE RANCH, ISRAEL (JANUARY 13, 2014) (REUTERS) SUN RISING OVER RANCH WHERE SHARON WILL BE BURIED SATELLITE TRUCKS PARKED AT RANCH CAMERA OPERATORS ATOP TRUCK VARIOUS OF CAMERA OPERATOR ON PLATFORM WIDE SCENIC VIEW OF FIELD ON RANCH
  • Embargoed: 28th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: International Relations,Obituaries
  • Reuters ID: LVA9W7XOG5922QQYSJE1XBXAAXNX
  • Story Text: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Israel for former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's funeral on Monday (January 13).
    Sharon died at the age of 85 on Saturday (January 11) after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke.
    A memorial service will be held on Monday in parliament in Jerusalem, before an afternoon funeral at the Sharon family farm in southern Israel.
    Biden is among other foreign dignitaries expected to attend the ceremony including Mideast peace mediator and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and delegates from Russia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia, Singapore, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
    The White House said the vice president would also travel to the burial at Sycamore Farm, in the southern Negev desert.
    Channel Two television reported that Israel was redeploying its Iron Dome rocket interceptor for improved protection of the farm, which had been hit by Gaza-launched rockets in the past.
    Early morning preparations for the burial service were underway at the ranch, with international media also arriving at the site.
    Sharon was considered one of Israel's finest military strategists and most powerful and decisive political figures.
    He spearheaded military campaigns in several wars with the Arab world, expanded Jewish settlement-building on land the Palestinians want for a state, and made the shock decision to withdraw from one of those territories, the Gaza Strip.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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