Hundreds of people, including many top government officials past and present, attended the funeral of veteran Labor politician Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer, who was laid to rest in the Holon cemetery on Tuesday. Ben-Eliezer died Sunday at the age of 80 from complications related to renal failure. "I loved Fuad. He had a captivating combination of vitality, grace, mischief, and a great deal of patriotism," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogize Ben-Eliezer. "He had his weaknesses, but he also had the continual truthfulness of a child who made aliyah from Iraq and remembered the sight of Jews who were hanged on electricity poles, and understood on the significance of the rebirth of Israel." Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog said that after Ben-Eliezer had retired from politics and his health went into decline, he had visited the latter on a monthly basis. "You suffered a lot toward the end, and [suffered] after your death from being called inhumane. But everyone who knew you would always say differently, that humanity was a prominent, integral part of your personality, and that is why so many people have gathered here to show appreciation for you and your humanity," Herzog said. Ben-Eliezer's family also spoke. His widow, Dolly, asked him "to whisper from above that everything will be all right." His son Yariv said that he still hadn't accepted his father's passing: "As a father and a grandfather, you were a defensive shield," he said. Touching on the corruption investigation against his late father, Yariv Ben-Eliezer said, "For the past two and a half years, you were tortured by the scandal that followed you until your final day and caused your medical situation."
