Biden remembers ‘complex man’ during Sharon eulogy

Vice President Biden eulogized former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon early Monday, remembering a “complex man” whose life embodied Israel’s journey while reaffirming the U.S.’s “unflagging” commitment to Israel.

{mosads}Biden quoted Shakespeare, James Joyce, the Book of Genesis and Sharon himself, according to a pool report.

Biden said the loss of Sharon was like a death in the family to Israelis and many people in the U.S.

“Like all historic leaders, Prime Minister Sharon was a complex man,” Biden said. “But like all historic leaders, all real leaders, he had a north star that guided him. A north star from which he never, in my observation, never deviated. His north star was the survival of the state of Israel and the Jewish people wherever they resided.”

Sharon “never, never, never deviated” from his “preoccupation” with the security of Israel, Biden added.

Biden also said Sharon was “never in doubt,” even when he earned “controversy and even condemnation” for some of his actions.

Biden, who led the presidential delegation to Sharon’s funeral, will also meet Monday with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The U.S. delegation also included Reps. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro and former Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer.

Sharon died Saturday after spending eight years in a coma following a debilitating stroke. He was 85.

— This report was updated at 10:00 a.m.