Shamir to be buried alongside wife after passing away in TA at age 96; coffin to be brought to Knesset where public will be invited to pay respects; Peres, Netanyahu, Rivlin to eulogize former PM at funeral. Former prime minister Yitzhak Shamir will buried on Monday evening alongside his wife, Shulamit, in the section reserved for leaders of Israel on Mount Herzl.

He died in Tel Aviv on Saturday at age 96.

President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and representatives of Shamir’s family will eulogize the former prime minister at the funeral. Earlier, his coffin will be brought to the Knesset, where the public will be invited to pay its respects from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday’s cabinet meeting began with a moment of silence for Shamir. Netanyahu used the occasion to defend some of Shamir’s more controversial statements.

Shamir’s statement in 1989 that “the Arabs are the same Arabs and the sea is the same sea,” regarding the never-ending Arab desire to destroy Israel, invoked strong criticism, even contempt at the time, Netanyahu told the cabinet.

Today, however, “there are certainly many more people who understand that this man saw and understood fundamental truths.”

The late prime minister, Netanyahu continued, never compromised himself or the truth according to popular sentiment, and “therefore, I think that it is proper that we honor him in meetings, at tomorrow’s ceremony, and at special meetings to be held today.”

Netanyahu convened the Likud faction at the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday to enable the party’s ministers and MKs to share their personal memories of Shamir. Netanyahu recalled at that meeting that Shamir sent him on personal missions when he was ambassador to the UN to deliver important diplomatic messages.

“What defined Shamir more than anything else was his unconditional loyalty to Israel and its security,” Netanyahu said. “Yitzhak was consistent and restrained and he knew how to choose realistic stances that fit each and every situation.”

Vice Premier Silvan Shalom mocked critics of Shamir who said he did not accomplish anything. Shalom said the peace conference Shamir initiated in Madrid in 1991 led to Israel establishing relations with many countries and to several major international companies, including McDonald’s, starting to do business in Israel.

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, who is the only current minister who served in Shamir’s cabinet, focused on the Russian immigrants who came under Shamir’s watch. He recalled Shamir telling the Americans to stop allowing Russian Jews to come to the US under the category of people who lack a homeland.

“After 1948, there are no Jews who lack a homeland,” Meridor said Shamir told the US State Department. “Who know how many Jews would not have come to Israel if Shamir was not so stubborn with the Americans.”

MK Tzipi Hotovely said that when a pollster told Shamir that “the public is not satisfied,” he replied: “Stop. We need to do what we need to do.”

She said this proved that Shamir was a man of vision who withstood pressure and succeeded to lead in the way he thought was right even when the public disagreed. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 07/02/12)