Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon (Hebrew: אריאל שרון‎‎; IPA: [aʁiˈ(ʔ)el ʃaˈʁon], Ariʼēl Sharōn, also known by his diminutive Arik, אַריק, born Ariel Scheinermann, אריאל שיינרמן‎; February 26, 1928 – January 11, 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke in January 2006. Sharon was a commander in the Israeli Army from its creation in 1948. As a soldier and then an officer, he participated prominently in the 1948 War of Independence, becoming a platoon commander in the Alexandroni Brigade and taking part in many battles, including Operation Bin Nun Alef. He was an instrumental figure in the creation of Unit 101 and the reprisal operations, as well as in the 1956 Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War of 1967, the War of Attrition, and the Yom-Kippur War of 1973. As Minister of Defense, he directed the 1982 Lebanon War. Sharon was considered the greatest field commander in Israel's history, and one of the country's greatest military strategists and tacticians. Upon retirement from the military, Sharon entered politics, joining the Likud, and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments in 1977–92 and 1996–99. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israel's prime minister from 2001 to 2006. From the 1970s through to the 1990s, Sharon championed construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Stri