Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon was Prime Minister of Israel from February 2001 to January 2006.[1]
Sharon was born in 1928 in Kfar Malal, then in British-ruled Mandate Palestine. He joined the Haganah at the age of 14. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. In 1953, he founded and led the "101" special commando unit which carried out "retaliatory operations." Sharon was appointed commander of a paratroop brigade in 1956 and fought in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957 he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.[1]
During 1958-62, Sharon served as an infantry brigade commander and then as Infantry School Commander. He was appointed Head of the IDF Northern Command in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Branch in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed Head of the IDF Southern Command.[1]
Sharon resigned from the army in 1973, but was recalled to active military service in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. He led the crossing of the Suez Canal during the conflict.[1]
Ariel Sharon was elected to the Knesset in December 1973, but resigned a year later, serving as security adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1975-76).[1]
He was again elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. he was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Menachem Begin's first government (1977-81).[1]
In 1981 Ariel Sharon was appointed Defense Minister, serving in this post during the 1982 Lebanon War. In November 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. He was also involved in organising the immigration of thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan.[1]
From 1983-84, Sharon served as Minister without Portfolio, and from 1984-1990 as Minister of Trade and Industry. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.[1]
From 1990-1992, he served as Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the waves of immigration from Russia, he initiated and carried out a program to absorb the immigrants.[1]
From 1992-1996, he served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.[1]
In 1996, Ariel Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure.[1]
In 1998 Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.[1]
Following the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in May 1999, Ariel Sharon was called upon to become interim Likud party leader, and in September 1999 was elected Chairman of the Likud. He served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.[1]
On February 6, 2001, Sharon was elected Prime Minister. He presented his government to the Knesset on March 7, 2001. After calling early elections to the 16th Knesset, which were held on January 28, 2003, Ariel Sharon was charged by the president with forming a government and presented his new government to the Knesset on February 27, 2003.[1]
After forming a new party, Kadima, in anticipation of elections to the 17th Knesset, Prime Minister Sharon suffered a brain hemmorhage on January 4, 2006, and Ehud Olmert was designated Acting Prime Minister. He has not regained consciousness.[1]
