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Ariel Sharon
Israeli general Ariel
Sharon stands on the right bank of the Suez Canal in January 1974, just a few
days before leaving the army to become a right-wing politician.
A maverick both in
war and in politics, and a divisive figure in his homeland, Sharon was a commander
in the army since the birth of Israel in 1948, and later the prime minister who
would pull out of Gaza.
Famously overweight,
he suffered a stroke that put him into a coma in 2006, when he was at the
height of his power. He died on Saturday, January 11, 2014, without ever
apparently regained consciousness.
Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images
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1955
Ariel Sharon briefs
his unit before an operation in Khan Younis, Aug. 30, 1955.
Sharon was born to
Russian immigrant parents on Feb. 26, 1928, in the small farming community of
Kfar Malal, north of Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah, the pre-state Jewish
defense force, at 14 and later went on to command an infantry platoon during
the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation. He was seriously wounded in battle
with the Jordanian Legion over control of the road to Jerusalem.
By 1953 he was
commanding Unit 101, a commando force formed to carry out reprisals for Arab
attacks.
Credit: AP
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1955
Ariel Sharon,
standing second left, poses with military commanders including Moshe Dayan,
center, Oct. 28, 1955.
In 1956 Sharon was
rebuked for engaging in what his commanders regarded as an unnecessary battle
with Egyptian forces in which some 30 Israeli soldiers died. But he was also
praised for military successes, such as his daring assault across the Suez
Canal during the 1973 Mideast War.
Credit: AP/Israeli Defense Ministry
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1966
Israeli army colonel Ariel Sharon, Feb. 16, 1966.
Credit: Moshe Pridan/GPO/Reuters
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1967
Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon is shown May 29, 1967, shortly before the 1967 Middle East War.
Credit: AP
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1967
Brig. Gen. Ariel Sharon, foreground left, stands with then-Israeli Minister without Portfolio Menachem Begin, on the Southern Front of the Six Day war in the Sinai Desert, June 16, 1967.
Credit: AP
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1971
Former Prime Minister David Ben Gurion with Chief of Staff Haim Bar Lev, right, and Operational Commander of Southern Command Ariel Sharon, left, tour Israeli Defense Force posts on the Egyptian border, along the Suez Canal, January 1971.
Credit: Israeli Government Press Office/AP
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1973
Israeli Major General in the Reserves Ariel Sharon smiles near the Suez Canal, then occupied by Israel, Oct.31, 1973.
Credit: Ilan Ron/Government Press Office/Reuters
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1977
Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin speaks with Israeli Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon (right) in the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Aug. 9, 1977.
Credit: Ya'acov Sa'ar/Government Press Office/Reuters
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1982
Then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, foreground, rides an armored personnel carrier on a tour of Israeli units advancing to the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 15, 1982, during Israeli occupation.
Credit: AP
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Begin and Sharon
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (right) talks to Prime Minister Menahem Begin in Tel Aviv in this 1981 photo.
Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images
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1982
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, left, talks with Israeli troops on his visit during the Israeli occupation in East Beirut, Lebanon, July 2, 1982.
Credit: AP
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1982
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, center, talks to troops during a tour of Israeli units surrounding the Palestine Liberation Organization enclave in West Beirut, Lebanon, July 6, 1982, during the Israeli occupation.
Credit: AP
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Knesset Vote
Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin (left) raises his hand as the Knesset votes to remove Ariel Sharon (center) as Defense minister, Feb. 14, 1983. Other cabinet members pictured: Home Minister Josef Burg (second left), deputy prime minister David Levy, and finance minister Yoram Aridor (second right).
Credit: AFP/Getty Images
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1986
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (left) greets Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade Ariel Sharon during a reception in honor of Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in Jerusalem, May 26, 1986.
Credit: Chanania Herman/Government Press Office/Reuters
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1996
Ariel Sharon in 1996.
Credit: AP
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1998
Israeli Foreign Minister-designate Ariel Sharon takes a ride on a mini-tractor on his ranch in southern Israel with his wife Lily and one of his grandchildren, Oct. 9, 1998.
Credit: Reuters
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1998
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks to reporters as Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon looks on during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., December 7, 1998. The two discussed the current Middle East situation and President Bill Clinton's upcoming trip to Gaza during breakfast meetings.
Credit: LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images
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1998
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (left) reviews a map of Israel and the West Bank with Texas Governor George Bush, before boarding a helicopter at Ben Gurion Airport for a overview flight to the north over Israel and the West Bank, Dec. 1, 1998.
Credit: Reuters
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1998
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (right) in a helicopter as he escorts Texas Governor George Bush (left) and Governor Mike Leavitt of Utah on a tour over Israel and the West Bank territories, Dec. 1, 1998.
Credit: Reuters
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2001
Ariel Sharon, then Israel's Prime Minister-elect, looks up as he touches Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall, in Jerusalem Feb. 7, 2001.
Credit: David Guttenfelder/AP
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2001
President George W. Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon March 20, 2001 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Sharon was on his first trip to the United States as Israel's prime minister.
Credit: LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images
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2003
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon addresses the media at the weekly cabinet meeting in his office, in Jerusalem, Jan. 12, 2003.
Credit: AP
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2003
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, left, U.S. President George W. Bush, center, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, at a 2003 joint news conference at the Royal Palace in Aqaba, Jordan.
Credit: AP
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2004
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks prior to the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, Nov. 28, 2004.
Credit: AP
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2004
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during a special session in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, about his government's proposed "disengangement plan" in Jerusalem, Oct. 26, 2004.
Credit: AP
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2004
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lights a menorah with rabbis and youths during a Hanukkah celebration at his office in Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 14 2004.
Credit: AP
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2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, second right, surrounded by bodyguards, arrives to the Israeli parliament or Knesset for a session, Nov. 23, 2005.
Credit: Emilio Morenatti/AP
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2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (left) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before their meeting in Jerusalem, Nov. 14, 2005.
Credit: Ariel Schalit/Reuters
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2005
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office, Jan. 30, 2005.
Credit: Oded Balilty/AP
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2001
Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon is pictured at the
Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv in January 2001, just days before his
election as prime minister.
The life and career of the man Israelis called "Arik" will be
remembered for its three distinct stages: his eventful and controversial time
in uniform, his years as a vociferous political operator who helped create
Israel's settlement movement and mastermind of the Lebanon invasion, then his
successful term as a pragmatist prime minister, capped by a dramatic withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip and curtailed at the height of his popularity by his sudden
stroke.
Sharon died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014, at the age of 85.
Credit: SVEN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images