Israel/Palestine: Israeli military commander and politician Ariel Sharon (1922-1995), The Pentagon, Washington DC, 6 May...

Ariel Sharon (February 26, 1928 -January 11, 2014) was an Israeli politician and general who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel until he was incapacitated by a stroke. 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. 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. Upon retirement from the military, Sharon entered politics, joining the Likud, and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments from 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. After suffering a stroke on January 4, 2006, Sharon remained in a permanent vegetative state until his death in January 2014.