Israeli military man, a war hero called “the Bulldozer” for his ability to mow down the enemy. Sharon’s overzealous penchant for going beyond orders has also caused him difficulties with his political ambitions. His reputation for being hard to control began with the Suez War,1956, when he led a paratroop unit to capture an entrance to the strategic Mitia Pass in the Sinai, suffering significant losses. He was applauded in 1973 for directing Israeli troops across the Suez Canal to encircle and trap Egyptian forces, turning the course of the Yom Kippur war. In October 1973, he was the Founder of an Army Special Commando unit for retaliatory operations (terrorism.)
Later, he was named the minister of Defense, Industry and Agriculture in the Israeli government. He was forced to resign as Defense minister in 1983 when he was indirectly responsible for the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Lebanese militiamen at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp.
In 2000, accompanied by hundreds of police, Sharon made a provocative visit to the area Muslims call the Noble Sanctuary, atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, sparking riots that became a Palestinian uprising.
On 2/06/2001, with a new promotional image of the peacemaker, patriot and family man, Sharon won the election as Prime Minister of Israel by a landslide.
Those close to him say that he is a man of the land, most at home in his 800-acre ranch. He was widowed in March 2000 when his wife, Lily, died of lung cancer at 63. His first wife, Margalit, whom he married in 1953 and who gave him their son Gur, died in an auto accident in 1962. The following year he married her sister Lily, with whom he had two more sons, Omri and Gilad. But in 1967, Gur, just ten, died while and a friend were playing with an old shotgun.
On January 21, 2004, an Israeli court charged a real estate developer with paying a $690,000 dollar bribe to Ariel Sharon in 1999 when Sharon was foreign minister. The developer, David Appel, is an activist in Sharon’s Likud Party and allegedly paid the bribe to Sharon’s son Gilad on Sharon’s behalf. On March 28, 2004, the Israeli chief prosecutor recommended that Ariel Sharon be indicted, and the Attorney General must make a decision whether to proceed. On March 29, 2004, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered his son Gilad to turn over documents relating to the corruption charges. Gilad refused, and Ariel Sharon rejected demands for his resignation. On June 15, 2004, citing a lack of evidence, Israel’s Attorney General dropped all charges in the bribery case against Ariel Sharon.
On November 21, 2005, Sharon announced that he was leaving the Likkud party in order to form a new political party. Mr. Sharon said the party, named Kadima (“Forward”), will focus on peace with the Palestinians and Israeli security. It is expected that the new party will be more centrist in its approach than Likkud on the right or the Labour Party on the left.
On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a massive stroke, was rushed to the hospital and underwent surgery, after which he was kept in a medically-induced coma. Ironically, he had been scheduled for heart surgery the following day to prevent exactly the kind of stroke he suffered.
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