In local community, warm recollections of warrior and statesman

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

While traveling in Israel with a group of Jewish journalists during the 1980s, JoAnn Abraham came face to face with future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then serving as minister of agriculture, minister of defense, and minister of trade and industry during that tumultuous decade in Israeli history.

Abraham, a Holmdel resident who edited the former Jewish Voice from 1981 to 1992, made two trips to Israel during the 1980s as part of tours that were cosponsored by the American Jewish Press Association and United Jewish Communities. A 30-minute meeting with Sharon was part of the itinerary of both visits, Abraham said.

Abraham was well aware of Sharon’s reputation as a “warrior-soldier,” but said the man she met was a master statesman.

“He had an encyclopedic understanding of all sides of any political issue,” Abraham said. “He was broad-minded and extremely focused. Although his manner was very business-like, he radiated enormous charm.”

During their two visits with Sharon, the journalists touched on a wide range of topics, including Arab-Israeli settlement issues, the peace process, and the stability of the Israeli government, Abraham said.

As prime minister, Sharon’s plans for Israeli settlers to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, which were completed in August 2005, triggered dissent within his right-wing Likud Party. In November, he left Likud and formed Kadima, a new centrist party.

“The warrior and the statesman decided the time had come to reassess the settlement situation,” said Abraham. “The future and security of Israel influenced his every move.”

Also commenting on Sharon’s controversial nature was Andy Melnick of Locust, who heard the prime minister speak in Jerusalem in 2003 while on a mission for the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County.

“He was a very forceful speaker and a very forceful personality,” Melnick said. “During that speech, he urged French Jews to reject the anti-Semitism they faced in France and come to Israel. The response of the French government was, as you can imagine, less than favorable.”

As minister of construction and housing in 1990-92, the former general presided over the largest buildup of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967.

By the time he was felled by a massive stroke this month, however, Sharon had reevaluated his position and withdrawn Israeli settlers from Gaza, with more disengagements presumably on the way.

“He came full circle,” Melnick said. “He traveled a long road and he took risks, which made him a great leader. The greatest leaders shape the world and are shaped by the world.”

Meanwhile, the stability of the Israeli democracy will ensure a continuity of government, said Howard Gases, executive director of the Monmouth federation.

“As a Western democracy, Israel has a set of procedures in place that will ensure continuity until Israel’s next general election,” Gases said. “We have no reason to believe that the policy of the current Israeli government regarding the Palestinians and the peace process will change. Whoever is in power will not change Israel’s desire for peace.”

Jill Huber can be reached at jhuber@njjewishnews.com.

Print this story