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Israeli leader Sharon fights for his life
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-06 06:54
Despite Sharon's age and the minor stroke he suffered two weeks ago, Israelis
seemed shocked by the illness of a man viewed as unflappable during his decades
in public life, first as a hero in Israel's earliest wars and later as the
country's best known political hawk.
Sharon led Israel's fight against the Palestinians during nearly five years
of violence and his military background gave him the credibility with the
Israeli public to make concessions to the Palestinians.
"He was one of a kind. I don't know any other man like him," said Joseph
Lapid, head of the opposition Shinui Party.
Sharon rose to prominence as an army officer, setting up a unit that fought
Palestinian infiltrators in the 1950s. He served as a commander of the Gaza
region after Israel captured the territory in 1967, before entering politics and
forging the Likud Party. Sharon briefly returned to the army to lead the fight
against Egypt during the 1973 Mideast war.
As defense minister, Sharon directed Israel's ill-fated invasion of Lebanon
in 1982 and was forced to step down by an Israeli commission of inquiry that
found him indirectly responsible for a massacre of Palestinians in two refugee
camps by Christian Phalangist soldiers.
Sharon re-emerged as prime minister in 2001 soon after the outbreak of new
Israeli-Palestinian violence, and two years later he reversed his decades-long
support for Jewish settlement and pushed through his Gaza pullout plan.
Despite the pullout, Sharon is widely reviled in the Arab world for his tough
actions against Palestinians.
Some Palestinian children handed out sweets in the Gaza Strip at news of
Sharon's illness. Other Palestinians worried that it could delay their upcoming
elections.
Sharon fell ill Wednesday evening while resting at his ranch in southern
Israel ahead of a medical procedure scheduled for Thursday to close a small hole
in his heart. Doctors rushed him to Jerusalem, and he suffered the stroke during
the hourlong drive.
Doctors said they stopped the bleeding during surgery. His condition may have
been complicated by blood thinners he took after his mild stroke Dec.
18.
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