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Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden and Tony Blair were among those to pay tribute to the former PM
Speakers at the state memorial for Israel's former PM Ariel Sharon have described him as an "indomitable" man devoted to the security of his people.
PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Mr Sharon was "one of the greatest military commanders the Jewish people have had".
Mr Sharon, regarded by many Israelis as a great statesmen but widely loathed in the Arab world, died on Saturday aged 85 after eight years in a coma.
He will be buried later at the family ranch in the Negev desert.
Thousands of mourners paid their final respects on Sunday, when Mr Sharon's coffin lay in state outside parliament - the Knesset - in Jerusalem.
'Giant of this land'There were some 20 foreign delegates and hundreds of Israeli dignitaries attending Monday's memorial service.
They included US Vice-President Joe Biden, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Middle East international envoy Tony Blair, Czech PM Jiri Rusnok and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Delivering the first speech at the memorial, President Shimon Peres said Mr Sharon was a "living military legend" who also always dreamed of peace for Israel.
He said Mr Sharon's shoulders had "borne the weight of the security of our people".
Grey skies cleared over Israel for a final farewell to Ariel Sharon but military helicopters clattered overhead and a white security Zeppelin bobbed above his much-loved Sycamore ranch.
Troops stood guard on every hill and hundreds of police were in position for the burial of a "larger-than-life" figure, described by many Israelis as a "man of the land". His burial site on Anemones Hill, rising in the arc of land between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli town of Sderot, was a powerful symbol of the battles fought for this land.
Israel's Iron Dome anti-rocket battery was in place to ensure no missiles were fired from Gaza during the last rituals for a man both revered and reviled.
Mr Netanyahu said Mr Sharon's "unique contribution to the security of the state is engraved in our historical writings", adding: "Your memory will be part of this nation forever."
Mr Biden described Mr Sharon as an "indomitable bulldozer... The security of his people was his unwavering mission".
Mr Biden also told the Israeli people: "As long as there is a United States of America, you are not alone."
Describing Mr Sharon as "bold, unorthodox and unyielding", but also "warm-hearted, humorous, charming and passionate", Mr Blair called the former PM "a giant of this land" who would "take his place in the history of Israel with pride".
Mr Sharon's body was then taken in a funeral cortege for a brief military ceremony at Latrun, west of Jerusalem, where he was severely wounded in the 1948 war of independence.
His final journey is to the Sycamore ranch he owned near Sderot, close to Gaza. Mr Sharon will be buried beside his wife Lili, who died in 2000.
Because of its proximity to Gaza, three security rings are being placed around the farm.
The inner ring closest to the grave will be for family and invited guests alone, the second will be open to the public and the third will be a security measure surrounding the perimeter.
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Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem: ''Palestinians... saw Sharon as an enemy to be hated and feared''
An Israeli security source said the Hamas government in Gaza had been warned to prevent any rocket attacks.
The Israeli military says a battery of the Iron Dome missile defence system is located nearby and that two rockets were launched from Gaza on Monday morning but did not reach Israel.
Gaza withdrawalNo-one from the Arab world, Africa or Latin America was attending Monday's ceremonies.
"Start Quote
End QuoteHis death has prompted a round of reflections on whether matters might have been different if he had been able to continue"
Mr Sharon's active role in four wars, from Israel's independence in 1948 until 1973, and later in government as the man who ordered the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, meant he was widely hated across the Arab world.
Palestinians saw him as a war criminal, because of the 1982 massacre by Christian Phalangist militia at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. An Israeli inquiry found Mr Sharon responsible for failing to prevent the killings.
But months before the stroke that left him in a coma in January 2006, he guided Israelis through a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with the declared aim of easing tensions with the Palestinians.
Ariel Sharon's funeral on Monday
- 07:30 GMT Knesset state memorial service in Jerusalem attended by international dignitaries
- Speeches from family members, President Shimon Peres, US Vice-President Joe Biden and Middle East envoy Tony Blair
- Army-led funeral procession from Knesset to Ariel Sharon's farm
- Stop-off on the way for private army ceremony at Latrun, where Ariel Sharon was wounded in 1948 war of independence
- 12:00 GMT Military burial ceremony at Sycamore ranch, near Sderot
- Selected invited guests and family present for burial beside Lili Sharon's grave; other members of public allowed to observe ceremony from a distance
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