By Wikipedia SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, is an important date in the country’s history. It marks the 31st anniversary of the presentation of credentials by Saad…
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Ariel Sharon (born Ariel Scheinermann on 27 February 1928) is an Israeli general and politician, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He is currently in a permanent vegetative state after suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006. A commander in the Israeli Army since its inception in 1948, Sharon participated in the 1948 War of Independence, 1956 Suez War, Six-Day War of 1967, and the Yom-Kippur War of 1973. After retiring from the army, Sharon joined the right-wing Likud party, and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments in 1977-1992 and 1996-1999. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israel’s Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006. During his long military and political career, Sharon was considered a controversial and polarizing figure. In 1983 a commission established by the Israeli Government found that Sharon as Minister of Defense during 1982 Lebanon War bore personal but indirect responsibility for the massacre by Lebanese militias of Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. In 1970s, 1980s and 1990s Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, as Prime Minister, in 2004-2005 Sharon orchestrated Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Facing stiff opposition to this policy within the Likud, in November 2005 he left Likud to form a new Kadima party. In January 2006 Sharon suffered a major stroke that left him in a persistent vegetative state. In March 2006 elections, Kadima, now led by Ehud Olmert, went on to win plurality of Knesset seats, becoming the senior coalition partner in Israel's 31st government.
