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Ariel Sharon

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Political People

   Ariel Sharon
   אֲרִיאֵל שָׁר‏וֹן
   Ariel Sharon
     __________________________________________________________________

   11th Prime Minister of Israel
   In office
   March 7, 2001 –  April 14, 2006
   (incapacitated from January 4, 2006)
   Deputy Ehud Olmert
   Preceded by Ehud Barak
   Succeeded by Ehud Olmert
     __________________________________________________________________

   Born February 27, 1928
   Kfar Malal, British Mandate of Palestine
   Political party Kadima (formerly Likud)
   Spouse Margalit Sharon (d. 1962);
   Lily Sharon (d. 2000)

   Ariel Sharon  (Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל שָׁר‏וֹן, also known by his diminutive
   Arik אָרִיק) (born February 27, 1928) is a former Israeli politician
   and general.

   He served as Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006,
   though the powers of his office were exercised by acting Prime Minister
   Ehud Olmert following Sharon's massive stroke on January 4, 2006. He
   fell into a coma, and has not regained consciousness.

   During his lengthy career, Sharon was a highly controversial figure
   among many factions, both inside and outside Israel. His supporters
   view him as a leader who strove to establish peace without sacrificing
   Israel's security. Many Israelis likewise consider him a war hero who
   helped defend the country during some of its greatest struggles. Some
   of his critics have sought to prosecute him as a war criminal for
   alleged crimes related to the Sabra and Shatila massacre during the
   1982 Lebanon War, for which the Kahan Commission held him both
   'indirectly' and 'personally' responsible. While no Israelis
   participated in the massacre, the investigation found that Sharon was
   personally responsible due to negligence and complacency. Sharon was
   dismissed as Defense Minister as a result. Nevertheless, Sharon
   remained a leading figure in the Likud Party, and held various senior
   cabinet and party posts, ultimately becoming party leader in 1999 and
   Prime Minister in 2001.

   During his tenure as Prime Minister, Sharon's policies caused a rift
   within the Likud Party, and Sharon ultimately left Likud to form a new
   party called Kadima. He became the first Prime Minister of Israel who
   did not belong to either Labor or Likud — the two parties that have
   traditionally dominated Israeli politics. The new party created by
   Sharon, with Olmert having stepped in as its leader, won the most
   Knesset seats in the 2006 elections, and is now the senior coalition
   partner in the Israeli government.

Early life

   Sharon was born Ariel Scheinermann to Shmuel and Dvora (formerly Vera)
   in Kfar Malal. His family immigrated to the British Palestine Mandate
   from Russia, fleeing the Red Army. Sharon's father spoke Yiddish and
   his mother spoke Russian, and Sharon learned to speak Russian as a
   young boy.

   The family arrived in the Second Aliyah and settled in a socialist,
   secular community where, despite being Mapai supporters, they were
   known to be contrarians against the prevailing community consensus:

          The Scheinermans' eventual ostracism... followed the 1933
          Arlozorov murder when Dvora and Shmuel refused to endorse the
          Labor movement's anti-Revisionist calumny and participate in
          Bolshevi(k)-style public revilement rallies, then the order of
          the day. Retribution was quick to come. They were expelled from
          the local health-fund clinic and village synagogue. The
          cooperative's truck wouldn't make deliveries to their farm nor
          collect produce.

   In 1942 at the age of 14, Sharon joined the Gadna, a paramilitary youth
   battalion, and later the Haganah, the underground paramilitary force
   and the Jewish military precursor to the Israel Defense Forces. At the
   creation of Israel (and Haganah's transformation into the Israel
   Defense Forces), Sharon was a platoon commander in the Alexandroni
   Brigade. He was severely wounded in the groin by the Jordanian Arab
   Legion in the Second Battle of Latrun, an unsuccessful attempt to
   relieve the besieged Jewish community of Jerusalem. His injuries
   eventually healed.

   In September 1949, Sharon was promoted to company commander (of the
   Golani Brigade's reconnaissance unit) and in 1950 to intelligence
   officer for Central Command. He then took leave to begin studies in
   history and Middle Eastern culture at the Hebrew University of
   Jerusalem. A year and a half later, he was asked to return to active
   service in the rank of major and as the leader of the new Unit 101,
   Israel's first special forces unit.

   Unit 101 undertook a series of military raids against Palestinians and
   neighboring Arab states that helped bolster Israeli morale and fortify
   its deterrent image. The unit was known for targeting civilians as well
   as Arab soldiers, notably in the widely condemned Qibya operation in
   the fall of 1953, in which 69 Palestinian civilians, some of them
   children, were killed by Sharon's troops in a reprisal attack on their
   West Bank village. In the documentary Israel and the Arabs: 50 Year
   War, Ariel Sharon recalls what happened after the raid, which was
   heavily condemned by many Western nations, including the U.S.:

          I was summoned to see Ben-Gurion. It was the first time I met
          him, and right from the start Ben-Gurion said to me: "Let me
          first tell you one thing: it doesn't matter what the world says
          about Israel, it doesn't matter what they say about us anywhere
          else. The only thing that matters is that we can exist here on
          the land of our forefathers. And unless we show the Arabs that
          there is a high price to pay for murdering Jews, we won't
          survive."

   Shortly afterwards, just a few months after its founding, Unit 101 was
   merged into the 202nd Paratroopers Brigade (IDF) (Sharon eventually
   became the latter's commander), which continued to attack military and
   civilian targets, culminating with the attack on the Qalqilyah police
   station in autumn of 1956.

   As reflected in the above-mentioned episode, Sharon -- while formally
   no more than a middle-ranking officer at the rank of Rav Seren (Major)
   -- had direct access to the Prime Minister as well as to then-Army
   Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan, bypassing the normal chain of command.

   Ben Gurion and Dayan, as well as Sharon himself, were well aware that
   the actions of his commando unit had a significant role in shaping
   Israel's relations with its neighbors, and that such raids could become
   the subject of headlines in the international press and debates in the
   UN.

   Perforce, Sharon was already at this stage of his career involved in
   strategic considerations which are normally the province of senior
   officers and of the political echelon. Moreover, historians often point
   to this period as shaping Sharon's habit of acting on his own judgment
   and ignoring or circumventing the instructions of his direct superiors.

   Sharon has been widowed twice. Shortly after becoming a military
   instructor, he married his first wife, Margalit, with whom he had a
   son, Gur. Margalit died in a car accident in May 1962. Their son, Gur,
   died in October 1967 after a friend shot him while they were playing
   with a rifle. After Margalit's death, Sharon married her younger
   sister, Lily. They had two sons, Omri and Gil'ad. Lily Sharon died of
   cancer in 2000.

Mitla incident

   In the 1956 Suez War (the British " Operation Musketeer"), Sharon
   commanded the 202nd Brigade, and was responsible for taking ground east
   of the Sinai's Mitla Pass and eventually taking the pass itself. Having
   successfully carried out the first part of his mission (joining a
   battalion parachuted near Mitla with the rest of the brigade moving on
   ground), Sharon's unit was deployed near the pass. Neither
   reconnaissance aircraft nor scouts reported enemy forces inside the
   Mitla Pass. Sharon, whose forces were initially heading east, away from
   the pass, reported to his superiors that he was increasingly concerned
   with the possibility of an enemy thrust through the pass, which could
   attack his brigade from the flank or the rear.

   Sharon asked for permission to attack the pass several times, but his
   requests were denied although he was allowed to check its status so
   that if the pass was empty, he could receive permission to take it
   later. Sharon sent a small scout force, which was met with heavy fire
   and became bogged down due to vehicle malfunction in the middle of the
   pass. Sharon ordered the rest of his troops to attack in order to aid
   their comrades. In the ensuing successful battle to capture the pass,
   38 Israeli soldiers were killed.

   Sharon was not only criticized by his superiors, he was damaged by
   revelations several years later by several former subordinates (one of
   IDF's first major revelations to the press), who claimed that Sharon
   tried to provoke the Egyptians and sent out the scouts in bad faith,
   ensuring that a battle would ensue. Deliberate or not, the attack was
   considered strategically reckless because the Egyptian forces were
   expected to withdraw from the pass in the following one or two days.

Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War

   The Mitla incident hindered Sharon's military career for several years.
   In the meantime, he occupied the position of an infantry brigade
   commander and received a law degree from Tel Aviv University. When
   Yitzhak Rabin (who within a few years became associated with the Labor
   Party) became Chief of Staff in 1964, however, Sharon began again to
   rise rapidly in the ranks, occupying the positions of Infantry School
   Commander and Head of Army Training Branch, eventually achieving the
   rank of Major General ( Aluf). In the 1967 Six-Day War, Sharon
   commanded the most powerful armored division on the Sinai front which
   made a breakthrough in the Kusseima-Abu-Ageila fortified area. In 1969,
   he was appointed the Head of IDF's Southern Command. He had no further
   promotions before retiring in August 1973. Soon after, he joined the
   right-wing Likud ("Unity") political party.

   Sharon's military career was not over, however. At the start of the Yom
   Kippur War on October 6, 1973, Sharon was called back to duty and
   assigned to command a reserve armored division. His forces did not
   engage the Egyptian Army immediately, but it was Sharon who helped
   locate a breach between the Egyptian forces, which he then exploited by
   capturing a bridgehead on October 16 and throwing a bridge across the
   Suez Canal the following day. He violated orders from the head of
   Southern Command by exploiting this success to cut the supply lines of
   the Egyptian Third Army, located to the south of the canal crossing,
   isolating it from other Egyptian units.

   The divisions of Sharon and Abraham Adan (Bren) passed over this bridge
   into Africa advancing to within 101 kilometers of Cairo. They wreaked
   havoc on the supply lines of the Third Army stretching to the south of
   them, cutting off and encircling the Third Army, but could not force
   its surrender before the ceasefire*. Tensions between the two generals
   followed his decision, but a military tribunal later found his action
   was militarily effective. This move was regarded by many Israelis as
   the turning point of the war in the Sinai front. Thus, Sharon is viewed
   by some as a war hero who saved Israel from defeat in Sinai. A photo of
   Sharon wearing a head bandage on the Suez Canal became a famous symbol
   of Israeli military prowess.

   Sharon's aggressive political positions were controversial and he was
   relieved of duty in February 1974.

Beginnings of political career

   In the 1940s and 1950s he seemed to be personally devoted to the ideals
   of Mapai (Workers Party of the Land of Israel), the predecessor of the
   modern Labor Party. However, after retiring from military service,
   Sharon was instrumental in establishing the Likud in July 1973. The
   Likud was comprised of Herut (Freedom), the Liberal Party and
   independent elements. Sharon became chairman of the campaign staff for
   the elections which were scheduled for November 1973. But two and a
   half weeks after the start of the election campaign, the Yom Kippur War
   erupted and Sharon was called back to reserve service (see above). In
   December 1973 Sharon was elected to the Knesset, but a year later he
   was tired of political life and resigned.

   From June 1975 to March 1976, Sharon was a special aide to Prime
   Minister Yitzhak Rabin. With the 1977 elections near, Sharon tried to
   return to the Likud and replace Menachem Begin at the head of the
   party. He suggested to Simkha Erlikh, who headed the Liberal Party bloc
   in the Likud, that he was more fitting than Begin to win an election
   victory; but he was rejected. Following this he tried to join the Labor
   Party and the centrist Dash, but was rejected in those parties too.
   Only then did he form his own list, Shlomtzion, which won only two
   Knesset seats in the subsequent elections. Immediately after the
   elections he merged Shlomtzion with the Likud and became Minister of
   Agriculture.

   When Sharon joined Begin's government he had relatively little
   political experience. During this period, Sharon supported the Gush
   Emunim settlements movement and was viewed as the patron of the
   messianic settlers' movement. He used his position to encourage the
   establishment of a network of Israeli settlements in the occupied
   territories to prevent the possibility of the return of these
   territories to Palestinian Arabs. Sharon doubled the number of Jewish
   settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip during his tenure.

   On his settlement policy, Sharon said while addressing a meeting of the
   Tsomet Party: "Everybody has to move, run and grab as many (Judean)
   hilltops as they can to enlarge the (Jewish) settlements because
   everything we take now will stay ours... Everything we don't grab will
   go to them." (Agence France Presse, 15 November 1998.)

   After the 1981 elections, Begin rewarded Sharon for his important
   contribution to Likud's narrow win, by appointing him Minister of
   Defense.

Sabra and Shatila massacre

   During the 1982 Lebanon War, while Ariel Sharon was Defense minister,
   the Sabra and Shatila massacre took place, in which between 460 and
   3,500 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps were killed by the
   Phalanges -- Lebanese Maronite Christian militias. The Security Chief
   of the Phalange militia, a Lebanese himself, Elie Hobeika, was the
   ground commander of the militiamen who entered the Palestinian camps
   and killed the Palestinians. The Phalange had been sent into the camps
   to clear out PLO fighters, and Israeli forces had been sent to the
   camps at Sharon's command to provide them with logistical support and
   to guard camp exits. The incident led some of Sharon's critics to refer
   to him as "the Butcher of Beirut".

   The Kahan Commission found the Israeli Defence Forces indirectly
   responsible for the massacre and charged Sharon with "personal
   responsibility." It recommended in early 1983 the removal of Sharon
   from his post as Defense minister. In their recommendations and closing
   remarks, the commission stated:

          We have found, as has been detailed in this report, that the
          Minister of Defense [Ariel Sharon] bears personal
          responsibility. In our opinion, it is fitting that the Minister
          of Defense draw the appropriate personal conclusions arising out
          of the defects revealed with regard to the manner in which he
          discharged the duties of his office - and if necessary, that the
          Prime Minister consider whether he should exercise his authority
          under Section 21-A(a) of the Basic Law: the Government,
          according to which "the Prime Minister may, after informing the
          Cabinet of his intention to do so, remove a minister from
          office."

   An AP report on 15 September 1982 stated:

          Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, in a statement, tied the killing
          [of the Phalangist leader Gemayel] to the PLO, saying: "It
          symbolises the terrorist murderousness of the PLO terrorist
          organisations and their supporters." Habib Chartouni, a Lebanese
          Christian from the Syrian Socialist National Party confessed to
          the murder of Gemayel, and no Palestinians were involved. Sharon
          had used this to instigate the entrance of the Lebanese militias
          into the camps.

   Sharon was dismissed by Prime Minister Menachem Begin but he remained
   in successive governments as a Minister.

   In its February 21, 1983, issue, Time published a story implying Sharon
   was directly responsible for the massacres. Sharon sued Time for libel
   in American and Israeli courts. Although the jury concluded that the
   Time story included false allegations, they found that Time had not
   acted with "actual malice" and did not award any damages.

   On June 18, 2001, relatives of the victims of the Sabra massacre began
   proceedings in Belgium to have Ariel Sharon indicted on war crimes
   charges. In June 2002, a Brussels Appeals Court rejected the lawsuit
   because the law was subsequently changed under heavy U.S. pressure to
   disallow such lawsuits unless a Belgian citizen is involved.

Political downturn and recovery

   After being dismissed from the Defense Minister post because the Kahan
   Commission found him "personally responsible" for his "disregard of the
   danger of a massacre," Sharon remained in successive governments as a
   Minister without portfolio (1983—1984), Minister for Trade and Industry
   (1984—1990), and Minister for Housing Construction (1990—1992). During
   this period he was a rival to then prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, but
   failed in various bids to replace him as chairman of the ruling Likud
   party. Their rivalry reached a head on the "Night of Microphones" in
   February 1990, when Sharon snapped the microphone from Shamir, who was
   addressing the Likud central committee, and famously exclaimed: "Who's
   for wiping out terrorism?". The implication was that only Sharon knew
   how to destroy the scourge and whoever deemed this as important should
   support him. The incident was widely viewed as an apparent putsch
   attempt against Shamir's leadership of the party.

   In Benjamin Netanyahu's 1996–1999 government, he was Minister of
   National Infrastructure (1996—1998), and Foreign Minister (1998—1999).
   Upon the election of the Barak Labor government, Sharon became leader
   of the Likud party. After the collapse of Barak's government, Ariel
   Sharon was elected Prime Minister in February 2001.

Prime Minister

   Ariel Sharon was allegedly involved in the Greek island affair related
   to attempts by David Appel to purchase an island near the coast of
   Athens for the purpose of building a multimillion-dollar resort
   complex. The charge against Sharon was dropped in 2004.
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, United States President George W.
   Bush, and Ariel Sharon after reading statement to the press during the
   closing moments of the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003.
   Enlarge
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, United States President George W.
   Bush, and Ariel Sharon after reading statement to the press during the
   closing moments of the Red Sea Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003.

   According to the Palestinians, Ariel Sharon has followed an aggressive
   policy of non-negotiation. Palestinians allege that the al-Aqsa
   Intifada (September 2000-February 2005) was sparked by a visit by
   Sharon and an escort of several hundred policemen to the Temple Mount
   complex, site of the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. Sharon's
   visit, prior to his election as Prime Minister, came after
   archeologists claimed that extensive building operations at the site
   were destroying priceless antiquities and a few months before the
   election. While visiting the site, Sharon declared that the complex
   would remain under perpetual Israeli control. Palestinian commentators
   accused Sharon of purposely inflaming emotions with the event to
   provoke a violent response and obstruct success of delicate ongoing
   peace talks.

   Sharon's supporters claim that Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian
   National Authority planned the intifada months prior to Sharon's visit.
   They state that Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub provided
   assurances that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would
   arise. They also often quote statements by Palestinian Authority
   officials, particularly Imad Falouji, the P.A. Communications Minister,
   who admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been
   planned in July, far in advance of Sharon's visit, stating the intifada
   "was carefully planned since the return of (Palestinian President)
   Yasser Arafat from Camp David negotiations rejecting the U.S.
   conditions". According to the Mitchell Report, the government of Israel
   asserted that
   President George W. Bush, center, discusses the Middle East peace
   process with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, left, and
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003.
   Enlarge
   President George W. Bush, centre, discusses the Middle East peace
   process with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, left, and
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003.

          the immediate catalyst for the violence was the breakdown of the
          Camp David negotiations on 25 July 2000 and the “widespread
          appreciation in the international community of Palestinian
          responsibility for the impasse.” In this view, Palestinian
          violence was planned by the PA leadership, and was aimed at
          “provoking and incurring Palestinian casualties as a means of
          regaining the diplomatic initiative.”

   The Mitchell Report, based on a subsequent investigation, also found
   that the Sharon visit did not cause the Al-Aqsa Intifada, though it was
   poorly timed and would clearly have a provocative effect.

   Palestinians doubt the existence of popular support for Sharon's
   actions. Polls published in the media, as well as the 140% call-up of
   reservists (as opposed to the 60% in regular periods) seem to indicate
   that the Israeli public is quite supportive of Sharon's policies. A
   survey conducted by Tel Aviv University's Jaffe Centre in May 2004
   found that 80% of Jewish Israelis believe that the Israel Defense
   Forces have succeeded in militarily countering the Al-Aqsa Intifada,
   indicating widespread faith in Sharon's hard-line policy.
   President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon meet in the White House on 14
   April 2004.
   Enlarge
   President Bush and Prime Minister Sharon meet in the White House on 14
   April 2004.

   On July 20, 2004, Sharon called on French Jews to emigrate from France
   to Israel immediately, in light of an increase in French anti-Semitism
   (94 anti-Semitic assaults reported in the first six months of 2004
   compared to 47 in 2003). France has the third largest Jewish population
   (about 600,000 people), after the United States and Israel. Sharon
   claimed that an "unfettered anti-Semitism" reigned in France. The
   French government responded by describing his comments as
   "unacceptable", as did the French representative Jewish organization
   CRIF, which denied Sharon's claim of intense anti-Semitism in French
   society. An Israeli spokesperson later claimed that Sharon had been
   misunderstood. France then postponed a visit by Sharon. Upon his visit,
   both Sharon and Chirac were described as showing a willingness to put
   the issue behind them.

   On July 26, 2005, Israeli attorney general Menachem Mazuz announced
   that he would indict Sharon's son, Omri, on charges of corruption. Omri
   had parliamentary immunity at the time, but indicated willingness to
   stand trial. The Knesset passed a law limiting members' immunity in
   order to allow the indictment and Omri was formally indicted on August
   28.

Unilateral disengagement

   While some believe that his recent efforts have been damaging to the
   peace process, he has embarked on a bold course of unilateral
   withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, while maintaining control of its
   coastline and airspace. It has been welcomed by both the Palestinian
   Authority and the left-wing in Israel, as well as by many abroad,
   including the United States and the European Union, as a step towards a
   final peace settlement. However, it has been greeted with opposition
   from within his own Likud party and from other right-wing Israelis, on
   security, military, and religious grounds. Other detractors have
   publicly distrusted Sharon's motives for this plan, and their
   suspicions were further roused after publication of an interview with
   top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on
   October 8, 2004, in which he explained Israel's motivation for
   withdrawing from Gaza. He told the newspaper that both Israel and the
   US felt Palestinian terrorism must end before a political process
   leading to a Palestinian state begins. Otherwise, Weisglass said, "the
   result would be a Palestinian state with terrorism..." The Gaza
   withdrawal would allow Israel to delay negotiations, and a Palestinian
   state, until such time that their leadership abandons violence. Critics
   interpreted Weisglass' comments as saying the purpose of disengagement
   was to destroy Palestinian aspirations for a state for years to come.
   This incident has been interpretated by critics that Sharon was
   intentionally trying to destroy the peace process, an accusation denied
   by the Prime Minister's camp.

   On December 1, 2004, Sharon dismissed five ministers from the Shinui
   party for voting against the government's 2005 budget. In January 2005
   Sharon formed a national unity government that included representatives
   of Likud, Labor, and Meimad and Degel HaTorah as "out-of-government"
   supporters without any seats in the government ( Haredi parties usually
   reject having ministerial offices as a policy). Between August 16 and
   August 30, 2005, Sharon controversially expelled 8,500 Jewish settlers
   from 21 settlements in Gaza. Once it became clear that the evictions
   were definitely going ahead a group of extreme right-wing Rabbis, led
   by Rabbi Yosef Dayan placed an ancient curse on him known as the Pulsa
   diNura, calling on the Angel of Death to intervene and kill him. After
   Israeli soldiers bulldozed every settlement structure except for
   several former synagogue buildings, Israeli soldiers formally left Gaza
   on Sunday, September 11, 2005 and closed the border fence at Kissufim.
   The synagogues were later looted and burned to the ground by
   Palestinians. While his decision to withdraw from Gaza sparked bitter
   protests from members of the Likud party and the settler movement,
   opinion polls showed that it was a popular move among most of the
   Israeli electorate. On September 27, 2005, Sharon narrowly defeated a
   leadership challenge by a 52-48% vote. The move was initiated within
   the central committee of the governing Likud party by his main rival,
   Binyamin Netanyahu, who had left the cabinet to protest Sharon's
   withdrawal from Gaza. The measure was an attempt by Netanyahu to call
   an early primary in November 2005 to choose the party's leader.

Founding of Kadima

   On November 21, 2005, Sharon resigned as head of Likud, and dissolved
   parliament to form a new centre-left party called Kadima ("Forward").
   November polls indicated that Sharon was likely to be returned to the
   prime ministership. On December 20, 2005, Sharon's longtime rival
   Benjamin Netanyahu was elected his successor as leader of Likud.
   Following Sharon's incapacitation, Ehud Olmert replaced Sharon as
   Kadima's leader. Netanyahu, along with Labor's Amir Peretz, were
   Kadima's chief rivals in the March 2006 elections.

   In the elections, which saw Israel's lowest-ever voter turnout, Kadima
   received the most Knesset seats, followed by Labor. The new governing
   coalition installed in May 2006 includes Kadima, with Olmert as Prime
   Minster, Labor (including Peretz as Defense Minster), the Gil
   (Pensioner's) Party and the Shas religious party.

Incapacitation

   Sharon was hospitalized on December 18, 2005 after reportedly suffering
   a minor ischemic stroke. Sharon spent several days in the hospital
   before being released. During his hospital stay, he was also diagnosed
   with a minor hole in his atrial septum and was scheduled to undergo a
   cardiac catheterization on January 5, 2006. Despite stern medical
   advice to the contrary, Sharon immediately returned to work.

   On January 4, however, Sharon suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke at
   his ranch Havat Hashikmim, in the Negev region. He was transported by
   ambulance to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem to undergo brain surgery.
   Although Sharon was reportedly in stable condition, his doctors called
   the stroke "significant", adding that he "suffered a cerebral
   hemorrhage", or bleeding in the brain. Sharon underwent seven hours of
   surgery to stop the bleeding and drain the accumulated blood. Hadassah
   Director Shlomo Mor-Yosef reported after the surgery that the bleeding
   had stopped, saying that "all the parameters are according to
   expectations after an operation of this type." However, now comatose,
   Sharon's chances for recovery are estimated as "very low".

   While the hospital was preparing announcements of his death, members of
   the media incorrectly reported that Sharon had already died.
   Nevertheless, Sharon's family and advisors urged his physicians to try
   once again to save his life.

   On the night of Sharon's stroke, in the wake of his serious illness and
   following consultations between Government Secretary Israel Maimon and
   Attorney General Meni Mazouz, Sharon was declared "temporarily
   incapable of discharging his powers". As a result, Ehud Olmert, the
   Deputy Prime Minister, was officially confirmed as the Acting Prime
   Minister of Israel. Olmert and the Cabinet announced that the elections
   would take place on March 28 as scheduled.

   During the rest of January, Sharon's condition remained essentially
   unchanged. On February 11, he underwent an operation to investigate
   damage to his digestive tract. It was found that he was suffering from
   intestinal bleeding and life-threatening necrosis, and about 50 cm of
   his intestines were consequently removed. On February 22, he underwent
   an additional procedure to drain excess fluid from his stomach,
   discovered during a routine CT scan.

   According to Israeli law, an Acting Prime Minister can remain in office
   100 days after the Prime Minister has become incapacitated. After 100
   days, the Israeli President must appoint a new Prime Minister.

   At the time of his stroke, Sharon enjoyed considerable support from the
   general public in Israel. The new centrist political party that he
   founded, Kadima, won the largest number of seats in the Knesset
   elections held on March 28, 2006. (Since Sharon was unable to sign a
   nomination form, he was not a candidate and therefore ceased to be a
   Knesset member.)

   On April 6, President of Israel Moshe Katsav formally asked Olmert to
   form a government, making him Prime Minister-Designate. Olmert had an
   initial period of 28 days to form a governing coalition, with a
   possible two-week extension.

   On April 11, 2006, the Israeli Cabinet deemed that Sharon was
   incapacitated. Although Sharon's replacement was to be named within 100
   days of his becoming incapacitated, the replacement deadline was
   extended due to the Jewish festival of Passover. A provision was made
   that, should Sharon's condition improve between April 11 and April 14,
   the declaration would not take effect. Therefore, the official
   declaration took effect on April 14, formally ending Sharon's term as
   Prime Minister and making Ehud Olmert the country's new Prime Minister.

   Medical experts reported that Sharon's cognitive abilities were
   destroyed by the massive stroke, and that he is in a persistent
   vegetative state (PVS) with extremely slim chances of regaining
   consciousness. Although the Israeli press (Yediot) reported that Sharon
   had opened his eyes several times, doctors were quick to note that that
   was not unusual with comatose patients.

   On May 28, 2006, Sharon was transferred from the hospital in Jerusalem
   to a long-term care unit of the Sheba Medical Centre in Tel HaShomer, a
   large civilian and military hospital. Ha'aretz reported that this move
   was an indication that Sharon's doctors did not expect him to emerge
   from his coma in the foreseeable future. Dr. Yuli Krieger, a physician
   not involved in Sharon's case, told Israel Radio on Sunday that the
   chances of waking up after such a lengthy coma were small. "Every day
   that passes after this kind of event with the patient still unconscious
   the chances that he will gain consciousness get smaller," said Krieger,
   Deputy Head of Levinstein House, another long-term care facility.

   On July 23, 2006, CNN reported that his condition was deteriorating and
   his kidney function was worsening . On July 26, 2006 doctors moved him
   to intensive care and began hemofiltration. On August 14, 2006 doctors
   reported that Sharon's condition worsened significantly and that he was
   suffering from pneumonia in both lungs. On August 29, doctors reported
   that he had been successfully treated for his pneumonia and moved out
   of intensive care back to the long-term care unit .

   On November 3, 2006, it was reported that Sharon has been admitted to
   intensive care after contracting an infection, though doctors insisted
   that his condition was 'stable'.

   On November 6, 2006, it was reported that Sharon has been moved out of
   an intensive care unit after treatment for a heart infection. "His
   heart function has improved after being treated for an infection and
   his overall condition has stabilised,".
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