Five-month-old Chaim Yehuda Shoham, killed by a Palestinian-hurled rock, was buried in Shilo last night. One of the thousands who took part in the four-hour funeral, which began outside the Prime Minister\'s office, was Sharon himself, who said the following:
\"Dear Bat-Sheva and Benny and families, friends who have come here from all over the country. I am not here to make a speech. I have come to cry, to cry with you together. Yesterday, I stood by the bed of Chaim Yehuda and patted his hand. It was difficult for me to leave him; he is exactly the same age as my twin grandchildren. I saw you praying with devotion, and I also prayed in my heart together with you.
\"How can they murder a baby? How can they do this? Only the wild and unrestrained incitement of the Palestinian Authority, which stands behind and activates this terrorism, leads to these horrific acts.
\"The responsibility for the security of every child in Israel is upon my shoulders, and I feel its weight. I feel its weight, yet my shoulders have not become weak, because I know that we must not allow our spirit to fall. If we ask every day, \'How much longer?\', we will lose. But if we remain firm and grit our teeth, and continue even when the tears choke our throats, we will win. And we will win. We have stood up to difficult situations, and we have overcome our enemies, and we will do this again in the future.
\"But my heart is pained at the fact that little Yehuda will not be with us when we arrive, in Eretz Yisrael, at the \'menuchah v\'hanachalah [the rest and the inheritance].\' And we will get there. May his memory be a blessing.\"
\"Dear Bat-Sheva and Benny and families, friends who have come here from all over the country. I am not here to make a speech. I have come to cry, to cry with you together. Yesterday, I stood by the bed of Chaim Yehuda and patted his hand. It was difficult for me to leave him; he is exactly the same age as my twin grandchildren. I saw you praying with devotion, and I also prayed in my heart together with you.
\"How can they murder a baby? How can they do this? Only the wild and unrestrained incitement of the Palestinian Authority, which stands behind and activates this terrorism, leads to these horrific acts.
\"The responsibility for the security of every child in Israel is upon my shoulders, and I feel its weight. I feel its weight, yet my shoulders have not become weak, because I know that we must not allow our spirit to fall. If we ask every day, \'How much longer?\', we will lose. But if we remain firm and grit our teeth, and continue even when the tears choke our throats, we will win. And we will win. We have stood up to difficult situations, and we have overcome our enemies, and we will do this again in the future.
\"But my heart is pained at the fact that little Yehuda will not be with us when we arrive, in Eretz Yisrael, at the \'menuchah v\'hanachalah [the rest and the inheritance].\' And we will get there. May his memory be a blessing.\"