Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon was an Israeli soldier and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Israel from 17 February 2001 to 11 April 2006. He died in 2006 of a heavy brain hemorrhage.

Ariel Sharon’s political career

The grave of Ariel Sharon and wife Lily. | Photo: Shutterstock

Ariel Sharon was born on 26 February 1928 in what was then British Mandatory Palestine. He was a commander in the Israeli army during the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War. After his military service, Sharon founded a small political party, Shlomtzion. This party quickly merged into Likud. Sharon was appointed Minister of Agriculture from 1977 to 1981 and Minister of Defence from 1981 to 1983. As Minister of Defence, he maintained a hard line against the Palestinians.

In 2000, Ariel Sharon was named Likud party leader and a year later became Israel’s prime minister. In 2005, however, he split off from Likud and founded the Kadima party. This political party is in favor of a two-state solution and is currently one of the largest parties in Israel. During this period, Ariel Sharon removed the Jewish settlements from Gaza and Northern Samaria.

Final years

On 4 January 2006, Sharon suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, which only stopped after seven hours. Two days later he suffered another brain hemorrhage and fell into a coma. Despite several operations, he did not regain consciousness. As Sharon’s health was not improving, the Israeli government officially relieved him of his duties on 11 April 2006. He never woke up and died in Israel on 11 January 2014. He had been in a coma for eight years by then.

The Ariel Sharon park is an environmental park established on the former Hiriya waste dump located southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel. | Photo: Shutterstock