Ariel Sharon's life in photos

• The life of Ariel Sharon in photographs

January 11, at the age of 85 years died, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

85-year-old Sharon - former Prime Minister of Israel - the last 8 years in a coma following a massive stroke. During this time, he never regained consciousness. The other day, the clinic doctors, in which Ariel is reported that, at the request of the sons of the prime minister, they have ceased to procedures aimed at maintaining the life of the policy. Ariel Sharon started to refuse internal organs, his condition worsened, and today it became known that he died.

Let's take a look back and a look at the life and work of this important policy for Israel.

Ariel Sharon opened the meeting of his cabinet in Jerusalem office in July 2003.

From soldier to politician - the 11th Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made a successful but controversial in the opinion of many political career. He participated in the wars of the 1960s and '70s years, and the prime minister was elected in 2001. In 2006 he suffered a heart attack a broad, leading to coma, which lasted 8 years.

Young, Sharon (second from right) at the age of 14 years.

He was born in a family of Belarusian Jews February 26, 1928 in Kfar Malala, then the British Mandate of Palestine. In childhood and adolescence, Ariel was a member of the youth organization of the Zionists and the parliamentary groups, and then joined the Haganah underground parliamentary organization.

Ariel Sharon with submachine gun Sten.

During the war for independence in 1948, he was a young commander in the brigade Alexandroni. His unit was involved in major military operations since 1947, and he distinguished himself during the Israeli war in 1948. He led a campaign infantry and was severely wounded at the Battle of Latrun, was wounded in the groin, abdomen and legs. In 1953, after studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sharon received a direct order from the Prime Minister to organize and lead a new elite unit of the Israel Defense Forces. Its task is to defensive military operations, reflecting the Palestinian attacks. Despite the military success, the division was convicted for qibya massacre in October 1953, in which 69 Palestinians were killed, including children.

A young Ariel Sharon (second from left), composed of paratroopers with their comrades. Sharon led Unit 202 during the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1956 on the Suez Canal and was responsible for landing troops in the eastern area of ​​transition Mitla. Losses incurred while the two sides, but it was Sharon's skills as a tactician and strategist, eventually led to the fact that Egypt has surrendered. However, out of this conflict, crowned with glory Sharon could not - it was criticized for being too aggressive, resulting in the deaths of many of his. After that Sharon continued his studies, eventually obtaining a degree in law at the University of Tel Aviv.

General Ariel Sharon, head of the Southern Command of the Israeli Army December 1, 1969.

Although proceedings about Sharon-led military action stalled his career for a few years, he eventually went on to climb the military ladder. By the 1967 Six Day War, Sharon was already a Major General and commanded the most powerful division on the Sinai front. Then the future politician again demonstrated his supreme strategic skills. During the War of Attrition in 1969, he worked in the Suez Canal area, and in 1971 headed the operation to suppress the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan (left) and Major General Ariel Sharon, on the west bank of the Suez Canal on October 18, during the second day of the promotion of the Israeli army to Egypt. Sharon's head is bandaged after the paltry wounds received earlier in the war.

Sharon resigned from the army in 1973 and began to take the first steps in politics, founding the center-right Likud party. Sharon became chairman of the 1973 election campaign. When 2, 5 weeks after, the Yom Kippur War, Sharon returned to Israel Defense Forces, and played a key role in this war. This photo of Sharon with a bandaged head became a symbol of Israeli military prytkosti.

Ariel Sharon and his family - his son Gilad (second from left), Lily's wife and son Omri (fourth from left). In the mid-1970s, Sharon tried several times to return to politics. He could not stand at the head of the Likud party, so organized his own party, which won two seats in the parliament in 1977. It then merged with the Likud Party, and Sharon himself became Minister of Agriculture. He started the program, which led to the formation of more than 200 Jewish settlements. After the elections in 1981 Sharon was defense minister.

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (in the foreground) in an armored car. The picture was taken on the outskirts of Beirut, June 15, 1982, during the Israeli occupation.

In 1982, Sharon organized the invasion of Lebanon, which led to the long presence of the Israeli military in this country. Sharon has teamed up with several Christian factions and supported government headed by Christian Gemayelom Bachir, who was later killed. Shortly thereafter, the military attacked the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. There are rumors that the military then killed between 800 and 3,500 civilians. Sharon was found guilty of negligence, and in 1983 was dismissed from the post of defense minister. However, he remained in the government as a minister without portfolio.

National Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon talks with representatives of the foreign press in December 1997. He points to a map of the future Jewish settlements and shares his vision of the Israeli security zone in the West Bank of the Jordan River.

The scandal about the events in 1982 a little hurt Sharon's political career. He returned to the Israeli government, and from 1984 to 1990. He was Minister of Industry and Trade. Sharon played a key role in the signing of a free trade agreement between Israel and the United States in 1985. Gradually, he became a rival of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, but his numerous attempts to replace him as chairman of the Likud Party failed. Later, he was the Minister of National Infrastructure and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and after the election of Ehud Barak, Sharon became Likud leader.

The opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the protection of leaving the Temple Mount in the east of the Old City of Jerusalem in September 2000. September 28, 2000 Sharon surrounded by over 1,000 Israeli police officers visited the Temple Mount. During the visit, he declared that the complex would remain under permanent Israeli control. The next day, there were numerous clashes with Palestinian demonstrators by the Israeli police, which resulted in 4 deaths, and top second intifada. It is against this religious cruelty and Sharon won the elections in 2001.

From left to right: Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the United States George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jordan's King Abdullah II at the summit in Aqaba, June 4, 2003. The early years of the reign of Sharon characterized by its permanent aggressive pressure aimed at in order to protect Israel from its Arab neighbors. But over time, his situation has changed, and some suggest that even Sharon himself did not believe that Israel will be able to keep their land. In May 2003, Sharon set a "world map" proposed by the US, European Union and Russia. This led to an open dialogue with the newly elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

When the Israeli troops entered Gaza to forcibly evict the Jews, clashes between the two sides intensified. In this photo settler throws a burning tire barricade at the beach settlement Shirat Hayam August 18, 2005.

In 2005, Sharon started to evict the settlers from the Gaza Strip, while maintaining control of the coast and airspace. He ordered to forcibly evict 9,480 Jews from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the northern side of the West Bank. It happened with 16 to 30 August of the same year. These actions resulted in violent clashes between security forces and settlers. When the settlers drove, Israeli soldiers bulldozed demolished all the buildings and structures, except for several former synagogues. September 11 troops formally withdrew from Gaza and closed border Kissufime.

The son of Ariel Sharon, Omri Sharon, January 23, 2006 in Tel Aviv court. He was accused of illegal fundraising during his father's election campaign in 1999.

Sharon's actions are constantly subjected to criticism and investigation. For example, the so-called "Greek Island Affair" Sharon charged that he promised to help Israeli businessman David Appel to build up the Greek island in exchange for sponsorship of his son Gilad. Later these charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. 2006 Ariel Sharon's son Omri was convicted of illegal fundraising during the election campaign, and his father was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks to reporters, leaving the hospital December 20, 2005. December 18, 2005, Sharon admitted to the hospital with a paradoxical embolism. He was released two days later. January 4, 2006, on the eve of the day when Sharon was to undergo heart surgery, Prime Minister of Israel, was taken to hospital with extensive hemorrhagic stroke. He underwent surgery, which lasted 7 hours. After that, the doctors brought him into the state of an artificial coma on January 13 but, when he tried to bring into consciousness after a successful operation, the prime minister did not awake. Then his stomach tube entered, which meant that doctors prepare it for long-term coma.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next to the empty chair of Ariel Sharon at a meeting of Parliament January 8, 2006.

At night, when Sharon had a stroke, he was declared "temporarily unable to perform the duties." As a result, Sharon deputy Ehud Olmert has been declared an official acting prime minister of Israel. April 14, 2006 Sharon's term as prime minister was officially completed, and Ehud Olmert became Prime Minister of a single country.

The Israeli special forces accompanied by an ambulance in which Ariel Sharon was transported to the hospital near Tel Aviv, May 28, 2006. In 2010, the physician Sharon admitted that the prime minister has no chance of recovery, adding that his brain is "the size of a grapefruit," and that "part of the brain that is responsible for the functioning of the body and its vital organs are not affected, but apart from that only the liquid left in it. "

Ariel Sharon at the Western Wall February 7, 2001. It was the first day when Sharon appeared in public after the elections.

"I'll start with the basic assertion that Jews and Arabs can live together. I repeat it at every opportunity, not journalists, not popularity, but because I thought since childhood ... I know that we all live on this earth, and though our state Jewish, it does not mean that the Arabs do not can be full citizens in the fullest sense of the word "- Ariel Sharon, 1989.