Ariel Sharon 1928-2014
Israeli general Ariel Sharon stands on the right bank of the Suez Canal in January 1974, just a few days before leaving the army to become a right-wing politician.
A maverick both in war and in politics, and a divisive figure in his homeland, Sharon was a commander in the army since the birth of Israel in 1948, and later the prime minister who would pull out of Gaza.
Famously overweight, he suffered a stroke that put him into a coma in 2006, when he was at the height of his power. He died on Saturday, January 11, 2014, without ever apparently regained consciousness.
1955
Ariel Sharon briefs his unit before an operation in Khan Younis, Aug. 30, 1955.
Sharon was born to Russian immigrant parents on Feb. 26, 1928, in the small farming community of Kfar Malal, north of Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah, the pre-state Jewish defense force, at 14 and later went on to command an infantry platoon during the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation. He was seriously wounded in battle with the Jordanian Legion over control of the road to Jerusalem.
By 1953 he was commanding Unit 101, a commando force formed to carry out reprisals for Arab attacks.
1955
Ariel Sharon, standing second left, poses with military commanders including Moshe Dayan, center, Oct. 28, 1955.
In 1956 Sharon was rebuked for engaging in what his commanders regarded as an unnecessary battle with Egyptian forces in which some 30 Israeli soldiers died. But he was also praised for military successes, such as his daring assault across the Suez Canal during the 1973 Mideast War.
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Begin and Sharon
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Knesset Vote
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2001
Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon is pictured at the Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv in January 2001, just days before his election as prime minister.
The life and career of the man Israelis called "Arik" will be remembered for its three distinct stages: his eventful and controversial time in uniform, his years as a vociferous political operator who helped create Israel's settlement movement and mastermind of the Lebanon invasion, then his successful term as a pragmatist prime minister, capped by a dramatic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and curtailed at the height of his popularity by his sudden stroke.
Sharon died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, at the age of 85.