Ariel Sharon has died at age 85, according to Israeli media.
The former Prime Minister of Israel had been in a coma since suffering a stroke in 2006. Last week his condition deteriorated, with doctors announcing that organ failure meant he was nearing death.
Sharon, born in 1928 to Russian émigrés, was a controversial figure. With a career as one of Israel’s most prominent generals behind him before he entered politics. He was a revered figure on the Israeli right, following his leadership in the six days war of 1967 and Yom Kippur conflict in 1973.
Sharon formed the right-wing Likud party after he ended his time in the military. He was elected to the Knesset in 1973. During the 70s he would serve as defence adviser, under Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He became agriculture minister in 1977, and during this time helped develop plans for permanent Jewish settlements in the land occupied by Israel since the 1967 war.
In contrast to his hero status among many Israelis, Sharon was reviled by Palestinians, who saw him as ‘The Butcher of Beirut’. Sharon was appointed defence minister and in 1982 he ordered the Israeli military to invade southern Lebanon, to attack PLO factions situated there. The Israeli army soon besieged the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and when the fighting had finally ended thousands of Palestinians remained in refugee camps in the city. Sharon ordered forces into the camps – claiming up to 2,000 PLO fighters were within. Between 800 and 2,000 Palestinians and Lebanese civilians were murdered by a group known as the Phalangist Christian militia, with Israeli support. Many more were raped and tortured. The actions caused outrage, with 400,000 demonstrating in Israel against the acts, and many more globally calling for Sharon to be tried as a war criminal. Sharon refused to resign and was demoted to minister without portfolio.
Sharon remained in the background of Israeli politics until he was appointed leader of Likud in 1999. In 2001 he was elected president of Israel. Sharon won the election just 6 months after the start of the second Palestinian uprising. Sharon ignited the uprising when he paid a visit to a holy site in Jerusalem, held sacred by both Jews and Muslims, surrounded by armed police.
Sharon went against the wishes of many in his party when, in 2004, he ordered the withdrawal of Israeli troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza and some areas of the West Bank. Many of his own party accused him of betrayal.
Looking for the freedom to negotiate a peace deal with Palestinians, Sharon left Likud in November 2005 and formed his own party, Kadima. The name means “Freedom” in Hebrew and Sharon’s party was to be centrist.
In December 2005 Sharon suffered a stroke. The following month he suffered another, more serious, stroke and fell into a coma, which he remained in until his death.
