Ariel Sharon, the soldier-politician whose career helped shape modern Israel’s history, died on Saturday after eight years in a coma. His death at the age of 85 set in motion plans for an elaborate state funeral and provoking a tributes and condemnation in almost equal measure.
Doctors at the Tel Hashomer Hospital’s Sheba Medical Centre, near Tel Aviv, said the former Israeli prime minister, had passed away after showing “surprising strength” in the face of rapidly declining health.
Israelis had been alerted on January 1 that Mr Sharon’s life was in danger after his kidneys and other vital organs began to fail as a result of an infection.
The former leader had been kept alive for the previous eight years by a complicated network of ventilators and feeding tubes. He had been in a persistent vegetative state since suffering a massive stroke in 2006 that inflicted severe brain damage.
As his two sons, Omri and Gilad, kept vigil by his side in recent days, doctors said Mr Sharon - who was prime minister from 2001 until 2006 - had battled to stay alive with the tenacity that marked his political and military career.
“He went when he decided to go,” said Gilad Sharon, 46, Mr Sharon’s younger son.
Procedures immediately got underway for a state funeral appropriate to his significance in Israeli history. World leaders will be invited to an event that will see the decorated former army general laid to rest beside the grave of his late wife, Lily, at his beloved ranch in the Negev desert
During his career as a soldier and a politician Mr Sharon proved an influential but hugely divisive figure, earning bitter enemies among fellow Jews as well as Palestinians. Having distinguished himself in combat during three wars against Egypt, he found himself accused of human rights abuses during Israel’s 1982 campaign Lebanon. As prime minister, he alienated many on his own side by ordering Israeli settlers to be removed from Gaza in 2005.
Within minutes of Mr Sharon’s death, tributes from Israeli politicians and Western leaders competed with denunciations from critics as befitting a man who polarised opinion throughout his life.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, who had an often difficult relationship with Mr Sharon, said his memory would be “enshrined forever in the heart of the nation”.
“Ariel Sharon played a central role in the struggle for the security of the State of Israel over all its years,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement. “He was, first and foremost, a courageous fighter and an outstanding general, and was among the IDF’s [Israeli Defence Forces] greatest commanders.”
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, hailed Mr Sharon as an “important leader” who had taken “brave” decisions for peace “Ariel Sharon is one of the most significant figures in Israeli history and as prime minister he took brave and controversial decisions in pursuit of peace, before he was so tragically incapacitated,” he said. “Israel has today lost an important leader.”
Shimon Peres, Israel’s president and a political contemporary and rival of Mr Sharon, said: “Arik [Mr Sharon’s widely-used nick-name] was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel’s great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision.”
By contrast, Palestinians reacted with a mixture of anger over Mr Sharon’s career - which was marked by bloody crackdowns on their aspirations for statehood - and glee at his death.
“S
haron was a criminal, responsible for the assassination of (Palestinian president Yasser) Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the International Criminal Court as a war criminal,” said Jibril Rajub, a senior official of the Fatah party, said. Palestinians allege that Mr Arafat, who died in 2004 while Mr Sharon was prime minister, was deliberately poisoned at Israel’s instigation.Doctors at the Tel Hashomer Hospital’s Sheba Medical Centre, near Tel Aviv, said the former Israeli prime minister, had passed away after showing “surprising strength” in the face of rapidly declining health.
Israelis had been alerted on January 1 that Mr Sharon’s life was in danger after his kidneys and other vital organs began to fail as a result of an infection.
The former leader had been kept alive for the previous eight years by a complicated network of ventilators and feeding tubes. He had been in a persistent vegetative state since suffering a massive stroke in 2006 that inflicted severe brain damage.
As his two sons, Omri and Gilad, kept vigil by his side in recent days, doctors said Mr Sharon - who was prime minister from 2001 until 2006 - had battled to stay alive with the tenacity that marked his political and military career.
“He went when he decided to go,” said Gilad Sharon, 46, Mr Sharon’s younger son.
Procedures immediately got underway for a state funeral appropriate to his significance in Israeli history. World leaders will be invited to an event that will see the decorated former army general laid to rest beside the grave of his late wife, Lily, at his beloved ranch in the Negev desert
During his career as a soldier and a politician Mr Sharon proved an influential but hugely divisive figure, earning bitter enemies among fellow Jews as well as Palestinians. Having distinguished himself in combat during three wars against Egypt, he found himself accused of human rights abuses during Israel’s 1982 campaign Lebanon. As prime minister, he alienated many on his own side by ordering Israeli settlers to be removed from Gaza in 2005.
Within minutes of Mr Sharon’s death, tributes from Israeli politicians and Western leaders competed with denunciations from critics as befitting a man who polarised opinion throughout his life.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, who had an often difficult relationship with Mr Sharon, said his memory would be “enshrined forever in the heart of the nation”.
“Ariel Sharon played a central role in the struggle for the security of the State of Israel over all its years,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement. “He was, first and foremost, a courageous fighter and an outstanding general, and was among the IDF’s [Israeli Defence Forces] greatest commanders.”
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, hailed Mr Sharon as an “important leader” who had taken “brave” decisions for peace “Ariel Sharon is one of the most significant figures in Israeli history and as prime minister he took brave and controversial decisions in pursuit of peace, before he was so tragically incapacitated,” he said. “Israel has today lost an important leader.”
Shimon Peres, Israel’s president and a political contemporary and rival of Mr Sharon, said: “Arik [Mr Sharon’s widely-used nick-name] was a brave soldier and a daring leader who loved his nation and his nation loved him. He was one of Israel’s great protectors and most important architects, who knew no fear and certainly never feared vision.”
By contrast, Palestinians reacted with a mixture of anger over Mr Sharon’s career - which was marked by bloody crackdowns on their aspirations for statehood - and glee at his death.
“S
Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip and who lost several leading figures to “targeted assassinations” during Mr Sharon’s premiership, said his passing made them more confident of victory over Israel.
“Our people today feel extreme happiness at the death and departure of this criminal whose hands were smeared with the blood of our people and the blood of our leaders here and in exile,” said Sami Abu Zurhi, a spokesman
Mr Sharon, who fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, was a controversial figure even to Israelis throughout the Jewish state 65-year history. In a military career often characterised by recklessness and insubordination, he rose to the rank of general, fighting against Egypt in wars in 1956, 1967 and 1973. He was credited with turning the tide against Egyptian forces in Sinai during the October 1973 Yom Kippur war. He had come out of retirement to command forces after quitting the army for politics because his path to promotion had been blocked.
His political career seemed doomed when he was forced to resign as defence minister after a government commission implicated him in the slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatilia refugee camps following Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, which he masterminded.
Human Rights Watch on Saturday said Mr Sharon should have been put on trial for the killings, which were carried out by a Lebanese Christian militia
After being politically written off, Mr Sharon made a surprise comeback as prime minister in 2001 months after the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada [uprising]. He oversaw a bloody crackdown on Palestinian militant groups and gave the green light to build a massive 400-mile separation barrier through the West Bank, ostensibly to stop Palestinian suicide bombers infiltrating into Israel.
The stroke that ended Mr Sharon’s political career happened when he was arguably at the height of his political powers. His decision to evacuate 8,000 settlers and withdraw troops from Gaza in August 2005 split his Right-wing Likud party and prompted him to form a new centrist grouping, Kadima. He was preparing to lead the new party into a general election to fight on a peace platform at the time of his stoke.
The party won the subsequent election, under the leadership of Ehud Olmert, his close ally, but failed in its attempts to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
CULLED FROM :www.telegraphy.co.uk
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