Ariel Sharon, the former prime minister of Israel and one of the country’s most iconic and controversial leaders, died Saturday after eight years in a coma. He was 85.
A legendary general who was called “the Bulldozer” by his critics when he entered politics, Sharon was the architect of Israel’s disputed settlement project in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sharon squashed a Palestinian uprising during his first term as prime minister. But he later led the withdrawal from the Gaza, handing the territory over to the Palestinians.
Known in Israel by his nickname “Arik,” his career was cut short by a stroke, as he was primed to win reelection.
“My dear friend, Arik Sharon, lost his final battle today,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said. “Arik 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.”
Sharon, who was elected prime minister in 2001, had a mild stroke in December 2005 and suffered a massive brain hemorrhage about two weeks later. He fell into a coma and remained in a vegetative state. He faced a setback in recent weeks, leading to massive organ failure.
Sharon continued to fight “against all odds” as his health deteriorated, Prof. Shlomo Noy, director of the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, said when announcing the death.
On Saturday, as his heart weakened, Sharon “peacefully separated from his family,” Noy added.
His son Gilad Sharon said, “He went when he decided to go.”
A state funeral will be organized for Sharon. His body will lie in state at the Knesset before a funeral on his Negev ranch. He will be buried near the gravesite of his wife, Lily, who died in 2000. Vice President Biden will lead the U.S. delegation at Sharon’s state funeral.
President Obama issued a statement expressing his condolences.
“We reaffirm our unshakable commitment to Israel’s security and our appreciation for the enduring friendship between our two countries,” Obama said.
In 2005, the longtime hawk and military stalwart shocked Israel and the world when he led the country’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of military rule.
He then left his political home of the Likud Party to establish the centrist Kadima Party and was expected to approve further concessions to Palestinians before he suddenly became incapacitated.
Randy Grossman, 53, of Midwood, Brooklyn, said the reversal was a reflection of Sharon’s commitment to Israel’s best interests.
“It seemed to be contrary to his stance as a soldier,” Grossman said. “But he was doing what he thought was best for the State of Israel.”
In his earlier days, Sharon was known as a brilliant strategist and fearless fighter who sometimes ignored orders. He was nicknamed “The King of Israel” and earned a reputation of getting things done as a brash statesman, but was also loathed for years by wide segments of the Israeli left.
Sharon was a soldier in Israel’s army since its inception in 1948, starting off as a paratrooper during the War of Independence and playing pivotal parts in each of the nation’s subsequent wars.
In the 1950s, he founded Unit 101, a special forces crew that carried out reprisal operations against Palestinians.
He rose through the ranks and, during the Six-Day War in 1967, led the crucial armored division that stormed through the Sinai Peninsula. His strategy and innovations became the stuff of legend and earned him praise from military researchers.
He retired in August 1973 as the head of the Southern Command but returned to active duty two months later, when the Yom Kippur War broke out.
His ground maneuver across the Suez Canal to cut off the Egyptian Army’s offensive is regarded as the turning point on that front. A picture depicting the famed general with a bandaged head near the Suez Canal became an iconic image in his country.
Sharon’s recall to the army held off a nascent political career, which he fully renewed in 1977, when the Likud Party ascended to power and he was appointed agriculture minister. The rookie politician encouraged Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, arguing they were necessary to prevent the return of refugees to the occupied territories, and the number of Jewish outposts doubled during his tenure.
He was given the plum defense minister job after the next elections and piloted the army into the 1982 Lebanon war. He was blamed for the massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Christian militias during the conflict, and an investigative commission recommended his removal from the ministry post.
He eventually agreed to step down as defense minister but stayed in the government and later handled various duties in subsequent administrations.
In 2001, Sharon was elected Israel’s 11th prime minister and announced his commitment to peace with the Palestinians. In 2005, he formed a coalition government and, despite opposition within his own Likud Party and other right-wing factions, led the disengagement from Gaza, expelling nearly 10,000 Jewish settlers from the narrow strip.
Facing internal dissent, he dissolved the government later that year and formed the new party that was favored in polls against his bitter rival, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sharon despised longtime adversary Yasser Arafat, calling the Palestine Liberation Organization leader an “obstacle to peace.” And there was no love for him in most corners of the Arab world.
“He wanted to erase Palestinian people from the map . . .,” said Tawfik Tirawi, who was the Palestinian intelligence chief when Sharon was prime minister. “He wanted to kill us, but at the end of the day, Sharon is dead and the Palestinian people are alive.”
Many Jewish New Yorkers mourned the passing of the man who in many ways embodied the history of his country.
“He was a great man. A great leader,” said Frank Daccordo, 43, the manager of the Mill Basin Kosher Delicatessen in Brooklyn, where heaping pastrami sandwiches and knishes are the most popular items on the menu. “He had a beautiful life. He did a lot for us.”
With Deborah Hastings, Stephen Rex Brown, Thomas Tracy and News Wire Services
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