(1928-02-26)26 February 1928 Kfar Malal, Mandatory Palestine
Died
11 January 2014(2014-01-11) (aged 85) Ramat Gan, Israel
Political party
Liberal (1973–1974)[1]
Shlomtzion (1977)
Likud (1977–2005)[2]
Kadima (from 2005)
Spouses
Margalit Zimmerman
(m. 1953; died 1962)
Lily Zimmerman
(m. 1963; died 2000)
Children
3
Alma mater
Hebrew University
Tel Aviv University
Profession
Military officer
Signature
Military service
Branch/service
Haganah
Israel Defense Forces
Years of service
1948–1974
Rank
Aluf (major general)
Unit
Paratroopers Brigade
Unit 101
Golani Brigade
Commands
Southern Command
Paratroopers Brigade
Unit 101
Golani Brigade
Battles/wars
1947–1949 Palestine war
Suez Crisis
Six-Day War
Yom Kippur War
Ariel Sharon's voice
Recorded 21 January 1999
n.b. ^ Ehud Olmert served as acting prime minister from 4 January 2006
Ariel Sharon (Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל שָׁרוֹן[aʁiˈ(ʔ)elʃaˈʁon]ⓘ; also known by his diminutive Arik, אָרִיק; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.[3]
Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestine to Russian Jewish immigrants, he rose in the ranks of the Israeli Army from its creation in 1948, participating in the 1948 Palestine war as platoon commander of the Alexandroni Brigade and taking part in several battles. Sharon became an instrumental figure in the creation of Unit 101 and the reprisal operations, including the 1953 Qibya massacre, as well as in the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition, and the Yom-Kippur War of 1973. Yitzhak Rabin called Sharon "the greatest field commander in our history".[4] Upon leaving the military, Sharon entered politics, joining the Likud party, and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments in 1977–92 and 1996–99. As Minister of Defense, he directed the 1982 Lebanon War. An official enquiry found that he bore "personal responsibility" for the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinian refugees, for which he became known as the "Butcher of Beirut" among Arabs. He was subsequently removed as defense minister.[5][6]
From the 1970s through to the 1990s, Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. He became the leader of the Likud in 1999, and in 2000, amid campaigning for the 2001 prime ministerial election, made a controversial visit to the Al-Aqsa complex on the Temple Mount, triggering the Second Intifada. He subsequently defeated Ehud Barak in the election and served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006. As Prime Minister, Sharon orchestrated the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier in 2002–03 and Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Facing stiff opposition to the latter policy within the Likud, in November 2005 he left Likud to form a new party, Kadima. He had been expected to win the next election and was widely interpreted as planning on "clearing Israel out of most of the West Bank", in a series of unilateral withdrawals.[7][8][9] Following a stroke on 4 January 2006, Sharon remained in a permanent vegetative state until his death in 2014.[10][11][12]
Sharon remains a highly polarizing figure in Middle Eastern history. Israelis almost universally revere Sharon as a war hero and statesman, whereas Palestinians and Human Rights Watch have criticized him as a war criminal, with the latter lamenting that he was never held accountable.[13][14]
^Henry Kamm (13 June 1982). "Man in the News; Laurels for Israeli Warrior". The New York Times.
^"New Israeli Cabinet Approved by Parliament". Associated Press. 11 June 1990.
^Lis, Jonathan (11 January 2014). "Ariel Sharon, former Israeli prime minister, dies at 85". Haaretz. National Israel News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
^"Israel's Man of War", Michael Kramer, New York, pp. 19–24, 9 August 1982: "the "greatest field commander in our history," says Yitzak Rabin"
^Cite error: The named reference butcher was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^MacFarquhar, Neil (6 January 2006). "To Arabs in the Street, Sharon's a Butcher; Some Others Show a Kind of Respect". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
^Rees, Matt (22 October 2011). "Ariel Sharon's fascinating appetite". Salon. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012.
^Elhanan Miller (19 February 2013). "Sharon was about to leave two-thirds of the West Bank". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013.
^Derek S. Reveron, Jeffrey Stevenson Murer (2013). Flashpoints in the War on Terrorism. Routledge. p. 9.
^"Scientists say comatose former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon shows 'robust' brain activity". Fox News. 28 January 2013. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
^Soffer, Ari (11 January 2014). "Ariel Sharon Passes Away, Aged 85". Arutz Sheva. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
^Yolande Knell (11 January 2014). "Israel's ex-PM Ariel Sharon dies, aged 85". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
^"Ariel Sharon: Hero or butcher? Five things to know". CNN. 11 January 2014.
^"Israel: Ariel Sharon's Troubling Legacy". Human Rights Watch. 11 January 2014.
ArielSharon (Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל שָׁרוֹן [aʁiˈ(ʔ)el ʃaˈʁon] ; also known by his diminutive Arik, אָרִיק; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli...
2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of ArielSharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon joined by...
publicity in Israel – that he had witnessed the then-Defense Minister ArielSharon personally shooting two Palestinian children from close range near the...
responsible for the events, and forced erstwhile Israeli defense minister ArielSharon to resign from his position "for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and...
ArielSharon Park (Hebrew: פארק אריאל שרון) is an Israeli environmental park. Situated along the lines of the Ayalon River in the area between Ben Gurion...
violent incidents started in September 2000, after Israeli politician ArielSharon made a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa compound, which is situated atop...
Former Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon died on 11 January 2014. His death received a number of international responses. His state funeral was held...
Camp ArielSharon (Hebrew: מחנה אריאל שרון, Mahane ArielSharon), also called the City of Training Bases (Hebrew: עיר הבה"דים, Ir HaBahadim), is a complex...
political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and ArielSharon in an alliance with several right-wing parties. Likud's landslide victory...
the border. The disengagement was proposed in 2003 by Prime Minister ArielSharon, adopted by the government in June 2004, and approved by the Knesset...
Israel on 28 January 2003. The result was a resounding victory for ArielSharon's Likud. The previous separate election for Prime Minister was scrapped...
served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance under ArielSharon. During the latter position, he initiated reforms of the Israeli economy...
founding Israeli special forces unit, was established and commanded by ArielSharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. They were...
special roundtable sessions at the Herzliya Conference. Prime Minister ArielSharon delivered his most important foreign policy speeches at the Herzliya...
of March 2006. Sharon continued as Prime Minister. 8 As the result of ArielSharon suffering a severe stroke on 4 January 2006, and being put under general...
magazine BaMahane. During the Yom Kippur War, he joined the headquarters of ArielSharon as a military correspondent. Already a member of the Knesset, he decided...
to support ArielSharon and his new Kadima party. In the immediate aftermath of Sharon's debilitating stroke days later (which left Sharon in a coma)...
Barak on 9 December 2000. Barak stood for re-election against Likud's ArielSharon. The third and last prime ministerial elections (separate elections were...
adapted. On 12 May 2003, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon had stated that a settlement freeze, a main Road Map commitment, would...
Cabinet of Israel convened for a weekly meeting, in which Defense Minister ArielSharon and the Chief of Staff (Ramatkal) Rafael Eitan presented the "Big Plan"...
political-strategic alliance, and members of the Israeli government like ArielSharon began to conceive of a plan to install a pro-Israel Christian government...
Theodor Herzl. The midwife who attended his birth was the grandmother of ArielSharon. After a year of a traditional cheder education Begin started studying...
Americans who have used similar terminology in various contexts include ArielSharon (reportedly), Colin Powell, James Baker, John Dugard, Martin Indyk, Daniel...
Omri Sharon (Hebrew: עמרי שרון, born 19 August 1964) is a former Israeli politician, son of former Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon. He served as a...
government in Ehud Barak's cabinet until 2001 when Barak was defeated by ArielSharon in a special election for prime minister. In 1999, he was also investigated...
strong opposition from the Southern Command chief ArielSharon. Pundak served with Major General ArielSharon in the Southern Command during his years as governor...
announced that ArielSharon would be visiting France in April 2004, EuroPalestine launched a campaign protesting the visit. Sharon's trip was cancelled...