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| ], spent many years in the ] before being elected in March ].]] | ] | ||
| '''Ariel Sharon''' (]: אריאל | |||
| '''Ariel Sharon''' (]: אריאל שרון, born ], ]) is a long-serving ] political and military leader, and has been ] since March ], the eleventh holder of that office. As such, he is also leader of ], the largest party in the governing coalition of political parties in the Israeli ] (parliament). He was born '''Ariel Scheinermann''', and is also often known by his nickname '''Arik'''. | |||
| == Let's Kill This Terrorist == | |||
| Sharon is a controversial figure, both inside and outside Israel, attracting diverse and often polar views. Many Israelis and supporters of Israel regard Sharon as a strong leader battling ]. Conversely, most ]s and supporters of the Arab-] cause and some other critics refer to him as "the Butcher of ]" and have sought his prosecution as a ]. | |||
| ==Down with Israel== | |||
| ==Early years== | |||
| Sharon was born ''Ariel Scheinermann'' in ] to a ]-] father and ]n mother in ] village in the ]. Arik's parents were ] veterans, that is, socialists with a secular worldview, but with a willingness to both compromise and fight. | |||
| In ], at the age of 14, he joined the Gadna, a paramilitary youth battalion, and later ], the underground para-military force and the Jewish military precursor to the ]. | |||
| At the creation of Israel (and ]'s transformation into the Israel Defense Forces), Sharon was a platoon commander in the Alexandroni Brigade. Sharon was severely wounded in the groin by the British-led Arab Legion in the Second Battle of ], an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the besieged Jewish community of Jerusalem. His injuries healed. | |||
| In ], he was promoted to company commander and in ] to intelligence officer. He then took leave to begin studies of history and Middle Eastern culture at the ]. A year and a half later, he was asked to return to active service in the rank of major and as the leader of the new ]. | |||
| Unit 101 undertook a series of retaliatory raids against Palestinians and neighboring ] states that helped bolster Israeli morale and fortify its ] image. However, the unit was also criticized for targeting civilians as well as Arab soldiers, resulting in the widely-condemned ] in the fall of ], in which more than sixty Jordanian civilians were killed in an attack on their village. In the documentary "Israel and the Arabs: 50 Year War" Ariel Sharon recalls what happened after the raid, which was heavily condemned by many countries in the West, including the U.S.: I was summoned to see ]. It was the first time I met him. and right from the start Ben-Gurion said to me: "Let me first tell you one thing: it doesn't matter what the world says about Israel, it doesn't matter what they say about us anywhere else. The only thing that matters is that we can exist here on the land of our forefathers. And unless we show the Arabs that there is a high price to pay for murdering Jews, we won't survive." | |||
| Shortly afterwards, Unit 101 was merged into the 202nd Paratrooper Brigade (Sharon eventually becoming the latter's commander), which continued to attack military targets, culminating with the attack on Kalkiliya Police in autumn ]. | |||
| Sharon has been widowed twice. Shortly after becoming a military instructor, he married his first wife, ], with whom he had a son, Gur. | |||
| Margalith died in an auto accident in ] and Gur died in October ] after being shot while playing with his father's rifle. After Margalith’s death, Sharon married her younger sister, ]. They had two sons, Omri and Gilead. Lily Sharon died in ]. | |||
| ==Mitla incident== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| In the ] (the British "Operation Musketeer"), Sharon commanded the 202nd Brigade and was responsible for taking over ground east of the ]'s Mitla Pass and eventually overtaking the pass itself. Having successfully carried out the first part of his mission (joining a battalion paratrooped near Mitla with the rest of the brigade moving on ground), Sharon's unit was deployed near the pass. Neither reconnaissance aircraft nor scouts reported enemy forces inside the Mitla Pass. Sharon, whose forces were initially heading east, away from the pass, reported to his superiors that he was increasingly concerned with the possibility of an enemy thrust through the pass, which could attack his brigade from the flank or the rear. | |||
| Sharon asked for permission to attack the pass several times but his requests were denied although he was allowed to check its status so that if the pass was empty, he could receive permission to take it later. Sharon sent a small scout force which was met with heavy fire and became bogged down due to vehicle malfunction in the middle of the pass. Sharon ordered the rest of his troops to attack in order to aid their comrades. In the ensuing successful battle to capture the pass more than forty Israeli soldiers were killed. Sharon was not only criticized by his superiors, he was damaged by revelations several years later by several former subordinates (one of IDF's first major revelations to the press), who claimed that Sharon tried to provoke the ]ians and sent out the scouts in bad faith, ensuring that a battle would ensue. Deliberate or not, the attack was strategically reckless because the Egyptian forces were expected to withdraw from the pass in the following one or two days. | |||
| ==] and ]== | |||
| The Mitla incident hindered Sharon's military career for several years. In the meanwhile, he occupied the position of an infantry brigade commander and received a law degree from ]. When ] (who within a few years became associated with the ]) became Chief of Staff in 1962, however, Sharon began again to rise rapidly in ranks, occupying the positions of Infantry School Commander and Head of Army Training Branch, eventually achieving the rank of ] (Aluf). In the ] ], Sharon commanded the most powerful armored division on the Sinai front which made a breakthrough in the Kusseima-Abu-Ageila fortified area. In ], he was appointed the Head of IDF's Southern Command. The BBC reported that Sharon was denied the promotion to chief of staff because of his disregard for human life, based on the occupation, under his command, of the ] and ]. He had no further promotions before retiring in ] ]. Soon after, he joined the right-wing Likud political party. | |||
| ] (right) in ]]] | |||
| Sharon' s military career was not over, however. At the start of the ] on ], 1973, Sharon was called back to duty and assigned to command a reserve armored division. His forces did not engage the Egyptian army immediately but it was Sharon who helped locate a breach between the Egyptian forces, which he then exploited by capturing a bridge-head on ] and throwing a bridge across the ] the following day. He violated his orders from the head of Southern Command by exploiting this success to cut the supply lines of the Egyptian Third Army, located to the south of the canal crossing, isolating it from other Egyptian units. The divisions of Sharon and Avraham Adan (Bren) passed over this bridge into ] advancing to within 101 kilometers of ]. They wreaked havoc on the lines of supply of the Third Army stretching to the south of them, cutting off and encircling the Third Army, forcing it to surrender. Tensions between the two generals followed his decision, but a military tribunal later found his action was militarily effective. This move was regarded by many Israelis as the turning point of the war in the Sinai front, which forced the Egyptians to retreat from Sinai and negotiate a cease-fire. Thus, Sharon is viewed by some as a ] who saved Israel from defeat in Sinai. A photo of Sharon wearing a head-bandage on the Suez Canal became a famous symbol of Israeli military prowess. | |||
| Sharon's hawkish political positions were controversial and he was relieved of duty in February, ]. | |||
| ==Sabra and Shatila massacre== | |||
| :''See main article: ]'' | |||
| During the ], while Ariel Sharon was Defense Minister, the ] took place, in which between 460 and 3500 Palestinian civilians in the refugee camps were killed by Lebanese Christian forces under the command of Lebanese ] ] militia. The Security Chief of the Phalange militia, ], was the ground commander of the militiamen who entered the Palestinian camps and killed the Palestinians. The Phalange had been sent into the camps to clear out ] fighters, and Israel forces had been sent to the camps at Sharon's command to provide them with logistical support and to guard camp exits. The following year, Hobeika defected to the Syrians, along with his supporters, and represented the Syrians in the Lebanese cabinet for 20 years, leading to speculation by victims' families that Hobeika was a double agent and that the massacres were a Syrian provocation. | |||
| The ] investigating these massacres recommended in early ] the removal of Sharon from his post as Defense Minister. In their recommendations and closing remarks, the commission stated: | |||
| :''We have found, as has been detailed in this report, that the Minister of Defense bears personal responsibility. In our opinion, it is fitting that the Minister of Defense draw the appropriate personal conclusions arising out of the defects revealed with regard to the manner in which he discharged the duties of his office - and if necessary, that the Prime Minister consider whether he should exercise his authority under Section 21-A(a) of the Basic Law: the Government, according to which "the Prime Minister may, after informing the Cabinet of his intention to do so, remove a minister from office."'' | |||
| Sharon was dismissed by Prime Minister ] but he remained in successive governments as a Minister. | |||
| In ], '']'' published a story implying Sharon was directly responsible for the massacres. Sharon sued ''Time'' for libel in American and Israeli courts. Time won the suit in the U.S. court because Sharon could not establish that ''Time'' had "acted out of malice", as required under the U.S. law, although the jury found the article false and defamatory. | |||
| On ], ], relatives of the victims of the Sabra massacre began proceedings in ] to have Ariel Sharon indicted on war crimes charges . In June ], a ] Appeals Court rejected the lawsuit because the law was subsequently changed to disallow such lawsuits unless a Belgian citizen is involved. (original: ) | |||
| ==Political career== | |||
| ] | |||
| Sharon had never been a political officer or general. He avoided Begin's ] party in the ]s and ]s and seemed to be personally devoted to the ideals of ], and then Labor. After he retired from the military and started a political career, Sharon even considered joining Labor, but was turned off by its cronyism. However, Sharon did propose a joint list of Labor and his own list party, ]. When Labor rejected Shlomtzion, Sharon tried to form a joint list with the centrist ] party, though his party met denial there as well. | |||
| Only after two rejections did Sharon form a political alliance with Menachem Begin. In combination with Begin, the center-right won the Israeli elections of ] for the first time ever. | |||
| Sharon was a member of the Knesset 1973-1974, and then from 1977 to the present. In ]-], he served as the security adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. He then served as Minister of Agriculture (1977-]), and as Defense Minister (1981-]) in Begin's Likud government. | |||
| During this period, Sharon supported the Gush Emunim settlements movement and was viewed as the patron of the messianic settlers movement. He used his position to encourage the establishment of a network of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories to prevent the possibility of the return of these territories to Palestinian Arabs. Sharon doubled the number of Jewish settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip during his tenure. | |||
| After being dismissed from the Defense Minister post for his involvement in the Sabra and Shatila massacre, Sharon remained in successive governments as a Minister without portfolio (1983-]), Minister for Trade and Industry (1984-]), and Minister for Housing Construction (1990-]). In ]'s ]-] government, he was Minister of National Infrastructure (1996-]), and Foreign Minister (1998-1999). Upon the election of the ] Labor government, Sharon became leader of the Likud party. After the collapse of Barak's government, he was elected Prime Minister in February ]. | |||
| ] Prime Minister ], ] President ], and Ariel Sharon after reading statement to the press during the closing moments of the Red Sea Summit in ], ], ], ]]] | |||
| According to the Palestinians, Ariel Sharon has followed an aggressive policy of non-negotiation. Palestinians allege that the ] was sparked by a visit by Sharon and an escort of several hundred policemen to the ]/] complex, site of the ] and ]. Sharon's visit came after archeologists claimed that extensive building operations at the site were destroying priceless antiquities and a few months before the election. While visiting the site, Sharon declared that the complex would remain under perpetual Israeli control. Palestinian commentators accused Sharon of purposely inflaming emotions with the event to provoke a violent response and obstruct success of delicate ongoing peace talks. | |||
| Others, however, denied this claim vehemently, and claimed that ] and the ] planned the intifada. . They state that Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub provided assurances that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise. They also often quote statements by Palestinian Authority officials, particularly Imad Falouji, the P.A. Communications Minister, who admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been planned in July, far in advance of Sharon's visit, stating the intifada "was carefully planned since the return of (Palestinian President) Yasser Arafat from ] negotiations rejecting the U.S. conditions." According to the Mitchell Report, the government of Israel asserted that | |||
| ], center, discusses the Middle East peace process with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, left, and Palestinian Prime Minister ] in ], ], ], ]]] | |||
| :''the immediate catalyst for the violence was the breakdown of the Camp David negotiations on July 25, 2000 and the “widespread appreciation in the international community of Palestinian responsibility for the impasse.” In this view, Palestinian violence was planned by the PA leadership, and was aimed at “provoking and incurring Palestinian casualties as a means of regaining the diplomatic initiative.”'' | |||
| The Mitchell Report, based on a subsequent investigation, also found that the Sharon visit did not cause the Al-Aqsa Intifada, though it was poorly timed and would clearly have a provocative effect. | |||
| Palestinians doubt the existence of popular support for Sharon's actions. Polls published in the media, as well as the 140% call-up of reservists (as opposed to the 60% in regular periods) seem to indicate that the Israeli public is quite supportive of Sharon's policies. A survey conducted by Tel Aviv University's Jaffe Center in May ] found that 80% of Jewish Israelis believe that the Israel Defense Forces have succeeded in militarily countering the Al-Aqsa Intifada, indicating widespread faith in Sharon's hard-line policy. | |||
| On ], 2004, an Israeli court charged property developer ] with trying to bribe Sharon (through his son ]) while Sharon had served as Israel's National Infrastructure Minister in the 1990s. On ], 2004, Israel's Attorney General, Meni Mazouz, decided to close the case due to lack of evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. | |||
| ] | |||
| On ], 2004, Sharon called on ] ]s to immigrate to Israel immediately, in light of a purported increase in French ] (94 anti-semitic assaults reported in the first six months of 2004 compared to 47 in ]). France has the third largest Jewish population (about 600,000 people), after Israel and the ]. Sharon claimed that an "unfettered antisemitism" reigned in France. The French government responded by describing his comments as "unacceptable", as did the French representative Jewish organization ], which denied Sharon's claim of intense antisemitism in French society. An Israeli spokesperson later claimed that Sharon had been misunderstood. France has indefinitely postponed a visit by Sharon. | |||
| While some believe that his recent efforts have been damaging to the peace process, he has embarked an a risky course of unilateral withdrawal from the ], while maintaining control of its borders and airspace. It has been welcomed by both the ] and the left-wing in Israel, as well as by many abroad, including the United States and the ], as a step towards a final peace settlement. However, it has been greeted with opposition from within his own Likud party and from other right-wing Israelis, on security, military, and religious grounds. Other detractors have publicly distrusted Sharon's motives for this plan, and their suspicions were further roused when top Sharon aide Dov Weisglass was quoted in '']'' on ], 2004 as saying the purpose of disengagement was to destroy Palestinian aspirations for a state for years to come. This incident has bolstered the position of critics that Sharon is intentionally trying to destroy the Peace Process, an accusation refuted by the Prime Minister's camp. See ]. | |||
| On ], 2004, Sharon fired five ministers from the Shinui party for voting against the government's ] budget. In January, 2005 Sharon formed a unity government that included representatives of Likud, Labour, and ] and ] as "out-of-government" supporters without any seats in the government (UTJ rejects having ministerial offices as a policy). | |||
| ==References== | |||
| * Ben Shaul, Moshe, Ed. ''Generals of Israel''. Tel-Aviv: Hadar Publishing House, Ltd., 1968. | |||
| * Council for Arab-British Understanding (2001). ''''. Retrieved December 4, 2004. | |||
| * (June 17, 2004). ''BBC-4'' television series. | |||
| * Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1983). ''''. Retrieved December 4, 2004. | |||
| * (February 12, 2003). Taken from . | |||
| * (February 12, 2003). Untranslated. | |||
| * OK, needs some help with this one! | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| *] | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| * - hosted by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. | |||
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Revision as of 07:48, 18 May 2005
Ariel Sharon (Hebrew: אריאל