Major IDF base to be named after Sharon

Army chief of staff accepts recommendation to dedicate training complex in the Negev to the deceased PM

By ToI Staff 13 January 2014, 1:22 am

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Israeli soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade train in an urban warfare training at a training base, in southern Israel. (photo credit: Kobi Gideon / Flash90)

A major IDF training complex which is currently under construction in the Negev is set to be named after former prime minister Ariel Sharon, the IDF spokesman’s office announced Sunday.

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz officially accepted a recommendation by the Government Names Committee to commemorate Sharon by dedicating the base to the late prime minister, an IDF statement said.

The military complex building site, known colloquially as “Instruction Base City” is located several miles south of Beersheba and is set to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015. It is expected to be the country’s largest base, combining a number of smaller training camps currently spread around the country.

Sharon died Saturday after a long illness. He was 85.

On Monday morning, the Knesset will hold a formal mourning ceremony, attended by the nation’s leaders and notable dignitaries, before his body is taken to the family’s Sycamore Farm for burial.

In Netanya, Mayor Miriam Feirberg said a large bridge being built in the city would also be named for Sharon. The span, connecting the Kiryat Sharon neighborhood to a stadium, was previously called the Sharon Bridge, but after the region in which the city sits.

Sharon, a war hero turned politician, already has a park named after him at the Hiriya landfill complex outside Tel Aviv. Sharon was a major booster of the project to turn the large hill into a park.