One of the most controversial figures in Israeli political and military history. Before entering politics, he was a well-known respected general, considered the greatest field commander in the country's history and one of its greatest military strategist. Upon retirement from the IDF, he entered politics and was a member of the Likud. He served as Defense Minister up until the onslaught of the second Lebanon War. Sharon was a proponent of settlement construction through the 1990's, yet as prime minister in 2005, he initiated the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, a move frowned upon by his party. Facing opposition, he left the Likud and found Kadima. Sharon suffered a severe stroke in 2006 which left him hospitalized in a vegetative state up until his death in 2014.
Sharon was not an ideologue but a pragmatist. As circumstances changed, he adjusted.
Words delivered at the memorial service for Ariel and Lily Sharon, February 15, 2019.
The request was rejected because Sharon still had three months left and 11 days to complete the training period as a Likud member, and he did not receive approval from PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu does not have a deputy or a vice prime minister. Perhaps the closest he has to that is the minister who was sent by Netanyahu to Ben-Gurion Airport to greet US Vice President Mike Pence.
'Who is America' shows how little some of Israel's biggest supporters know about the Jewish state
The grown children of Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon did not get the same level of security when their fathers were prime ministers.
Other streets to be named after former generals, military heroes ahead of Israel's 70th Independence Day.
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