Benjamin Netanyahu
Search results
Ariel Sharon (Hebrew: אֲרִיאֵל שָׁרוֹן [aʁiˈ(ʔ)el ʃaˈʁon] ⓘ; 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
- 1948–1974
The former Israeli prime minister survived for eight years after a massive stroke in 2006, despite multiple operations and complications. He was kept alive with a feeding tube and received physiotherapy, but showed no signs of recovery or consciousness.
- Overview
- Early life and military career
Ariel Sharon (born February 26, 1928, Kefar Malal, Palestine [now in Israel]—died January 11, 2014, Ramat Gan, Israel) Israeli general and politician, whose public life was marked by brilliant but controversial military achievements and political policies. He was one of the chief participants in the Arab-Israeli wars and was elected prime minister ...
Born Ariel Scheinerman—like many Israelis, he Hebraized his name in the early years of the state—Sharon grew up in a family of Russian immigrants in then British-ruled Palestine. His early years were marked by experiences in the secular, socialist Labour Zionist movement and in the Haganah, the underground Zionist militia, which he joined at age 14. In December 1947 he became a full-time soldier. In 1948, Sharon fought as a junior officer in the battle of Laṭrūn; when Israeli forces there were routed by Jordanian troops, Sharon’s platoon was destroyed, and he was seriously injured. He later said that he was “eaten up by despair and the shame of the defeat.” After the war he remained in uniform and served as an intelligence officer while studying Middle Eastern history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
In July 1953 Sharon was appointed the head of Unit 101, a commando group charged with conducting reprisal raids against Jordanian border villages in response to incursions by Arab irregulars. Sharon was accorded considerable independence of action, to which he added a natural impetuosity and recklessness. In October one such operation, a retaliatory attack against the village of Qibyā (in the West Bank), left 69 civilians dead, many of them women and children. The episode evoked criticism both in Israel and abroad. Israeli foreign minister Moshe Sharett, who had opposed any such retaliation, decried the raid as having exposed Israel before the world “as a gang of bloodsuckers, capable of mass murder.” But Sharon was protected by the country’s combative first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who described the young Sharon as original and visionary. In his diary Ben-Gurion also noted, “Were he to rid himself of his faults of not speaking the truth and to distance himself from gossip, he would be an exceptional military leader.”
In 1955 Sharon led another raid, this time directed at the Egyptian forces that were occupying the Gaza Strip. The incident, in which 38 Egyptians and 8 Israelis were killed, heightened tensions between Israel and Egypt. In late October 1956 the crisis culminated in the invasion of Egypt by Israel, in secret alliance with Britain and France (see Suez Crisis). In the ensuing campaign, Sharon commanded paratroopers who captured the strategic Mitla Pass in the central Sinai Peninsula. He exceeded orders and sustained heavy losses, again garnering a mixture of praise for his military ability and criticism of his headstrong leadership.
In 1957 he was sent to Staff College in Camberley, England, for officer training. Later he studied part-time at what was then the Tel Aviv branch of the Hebrew University and graduated with a law degree in 1966.
In late May 1967 Egypt remilitarized the Sinai and declared a blockade against Israeli ships passing through the Strait of Tiran. When the Israeli government appeared to hesitate about its response to Egypt’s actions, Sharon proposed to the chief of staff, Yitzhak Rabin, that the military high command take power and hold the cabinet in detention while the armed forces launched a preemptive attack on Egypt. A few days later, however, the government itself decided to go to war.
Students save 67%! Learn more about our special academic rate today.
- Bernard Wasserstein
Jan 11, 2014 · Sat 11 Jan 2014 09.28 EST. Ariel Sharon, the controversial self-styled "warrior" who dominated Israel's military and political landscape for decades, has died eight years after a massive stroke...
- 59 sec
- Harriet Sherwood
Jan 11, 2014 · Ariel Sharon, a controversial and influential leader who served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006, died on Saturday at 85. He was known for his war heroism, his political and military achievements, and his controversial decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and offer Palestinians a state of their own.
- CBS News
- Stephen Smith
- 3 min
People also ask
Who was Arik Sharon?
Who is Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas?
What was Ariel Sharon's life like?
Who is Ariel Sharon?
Jan 11, 2014 · Jan. 11, 2014. Ariel Sharon, one of the most influential figures in Israel’s history, a military commander and political leader who at the height of his power redrew the country’s electoral ...
Jan 11, 2014 · The life of Ariel Sharon - timeline. Key military and political events in the life of the former Israeli prime minister who has died at the age of 85. Sat 11 Jan 2014 10.47 EST. 26 February...
