Health minister was asked not to bury Sharon on his ranch

Former prime minister's heartbeat, blood pressure stabilized but he remains in critical condition.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Ariel Sharon. (photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Ariel Sharon.
(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
Health Minister Yael German received a letter from right-wing activist Noam Federman Sunday asking her not to permit former prime minister Ariel Sharon to be buried on his Negev ranch.
Federman asked the High Court of Justice in 2005 to move the grave of Sharon’s wife Lily off the ranch because the grave site was in a nature reserve and had not received a permit. The court rejected the petition at the time only because she had already been dead for five years.
“When the time comes, please instruct your ministry not to issue a permit to the Sharon family to bury him on the ranch,” Federman wrote.
“The law is the law, and it must be maintained without exception.”
A Sharon confidant said in response that all the necessary permits for the grave site have been obtained over the last few years.
Sharon remained in critical condition Sunday for the seventh day in a row since his condition worsened. His kidneys have not returned to function, but his heartbeat and blood pressure have stabilized.
“He is fighting like a lion,” said Prof.
Ze’ev Rotstein, head of the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer that is treating Sharon. “We knew he had a good heart. Now I can confirm he has a strong heart. But he is still in immediate danger and I cannot say I am more optimistic and I might be even more pessimistic than I was before.”
Hospital officials said Sharon could end up living longer than was expected before. One official even said his heart had returned to beat like that of a 15-year-old.
Prof. Ze’ev Rotstein said Sharon’s sons Omri and Gilad hold his hand all the time, and that the former prime minister is never alone, even for a moment.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog expressed his support for Omri and Gilad in a speech at Sunday night’s Labor convention in Tel Aviv.
“Sharon was a great, though controversial, leader,” Herzog said. “I appreciate the revolution he made in his later years in taking an inevitable step [to withdraw from the Gaza Strip]. Leaders are judged by their ability to make the right decisions and implement them even if they are unpopular. Arik did that.”