Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was niftar in Tel Aviv’s Tel Hashomer Hospital on Shabbos afternoon Parshas Beshalach 5774 at about 2:00 PM. The news of his petira follows his years of remaining comatose. On January 5, 2006, while serving as prime minister, he suffered a CVA from which he never recovered. He was initially treated in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. Doctors realized inter cranial bleeding resulted in significant neurological damage. The prime minister was moved to a rehabilitation unit at Tel Hashomer, where he remained the entire time barring a short period when his sons Gilad and Omri tried having his medical needs met at their home, the Sycamore Farm in the Negev. The boys understood that was their father’s most beloved place in the world and thought that perhaps, if surrounded by this familiar environment, it might advance his recuperation. When it became clear that it was not possible due to his demanding medical needs, Sharon was brought back to Tel Hashomer.

Ariel (Arik) Sharon was born Ariel Scheinermann on February 26, 1928 in Kfar Malal, an agricultural community under the British Mandate rule. He is best known for his military career and the 2005 so-called Disengagement, the expulsion of Jews from Gaza and northern Shomron. His family fled the Bolshevik forces as they were headed to Georgia, moving to Palestine, finding their home in Malal.

Sharon began his Zionist activism at an early age, joining patrols when he was 14, moving up the ranks of the Haganah. He was a commander in the 1948 War of Intendance.

Sharon remained in the military, then a major, establishing the famous ‘Unit 101’ at the behest of the prime minister. The unit concentrated and retaliating against ‘fedayeen’ attacks. The unit was made up of several dozen paratroopers and the special force received the best weapons and equipment the military had to offer. The unit operated in Gaza, Yehuda, Shomron and Jordan as it undertook major counter-terrorism offensives.

In the 1956 War Sharon commanded the 202nd Paratrooper Brigade and liberated the Mitlah Pass. He was denied permission to continue advancing.

He went on to earn a degree in law from Tel Aviv University. In the 1967 Six Day War he commanded an armored division on the Sinai front and once again, displayed his keen military instincts. In 1969 he was appointed IDF Southern District Commander, holding the rank of major-general.

Perhaps his legacy is remembered for his heroic efforts during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when he defied the odds and despite being wounded, managed to cross the Suez Canal on October 17th. He led forces within 101km (60 miles) of Cairo, encircling the canal and cutting off the Egyptian Third Army. Despite defying orders, many regard his actions as the turning point in the war. Sharon is credited by many for the dramatic turnaround and the victory following the difficult first days of the war. Prime Minister Golda Meir would not follow intelligence reports encouraging her to order a preemptive strike and Israel paid a heavy price for her decision R”L.

As he entered political life he turned from a Mapai faithful to a right-wing hawk, playing a key role in the establishment of Likud in 1973. He was working on a campaign for elections when the Yom Kippur War began and he returned to service. He was successful in entering Knesset but quit about a year later. He then went on to serve as a special advisor to Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin in 1975-1976. In 1977 he moved right and aligned with Menachem Begin. He was a staunch supporter of Gush Emunim and advocated building Jewish communities throughout Yehuda, Shomron and Gaza.

When the First Lebanon War began in 1982 Sharon was serving as minister of defense. Sharon was blamed for ordering what is referred to as the Sabra and Shatila Massacre in September in which several thousand civilians were killed in those refugee camps by Phalanges (Lebanese Christian militia). Israel established the Kahan Commission which ruled the IDF did not order the killings but the IDF was aware of what was taking place, and Defense Minister Sharon and Prime Minister Menachem Begin did not order the military to intervene. The pressure from the left-wing resulted in the commission recommending Sharon step down. He refused and Begin had to dismiss him. Time Magazine subsequently ran a major story against Sharon, blaming him for the massacre. He sued Time for libel and the court established there were false allegations, but Time was not compelled to make a compensatory settlement. Sharon remained in Knesset and served in a number of cabinet posts.

The left-wing blames Sharon for starting the so-called Second Intifada, when he visited Har Habayis in September 2000 escorted by over 1,000 policemen. A few months later, in February 2001, he was elected as prime minister, replacing Ehud Barak.

In a masterfully orchestrated political move, Sharon abandoned Likud and launched the Kadima party in November 2005. He then went on to implement his Disengagement Plan, the summer of 2005 expulsion of the Gush Katif and some N. Shomron communities, reassuring the nation that if rockets are fired into Israel following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, he will know how to deal with the situation.

Sharon was widowed twice. He and Margalit had a son, Gur. Margalit died in a car accident in 1962 and Gur was killed when he and a friend were playing with a weapon. The friend accidently shot him to death. This occurred in 1967. Sharon married Margalit’s younger sister Lily, and they had two sons, Omri and Gilad. Lily died of cancer in 2000.

Regarding the levaya, it is being reported that the body of the late prime minister will lay in state in Knesset on Sunday. A “farewell” ceremony will be held on Monday and then the levaya will get underway, heading to the family Sycamore Farm in the Negev where Sharon will be buried aside his wife Lily.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)