Israel Sharon Suffers Serious Stroke, Olmert in Power

Jerusalem----January 5.....Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been rushed to hospital this evening suffering from a major stroke. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has now assumed the powers of Israel Prime Minister.

The Jewish nation is watching the events unfold on Israel television and praying for Sharon's speedy recovery. A speedy recovery may not be realized as doctors and Israel TV are describing the situation as life threatening with Sharon presently undergoing an operation for a cerebral hemorrhage. There are reports that the former war hero who created the elite Israel Defense Forces 101 Unit and led Israel troops across the Suez into Egypt during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, has lost movement of his lower body.

According to the Government Press Office and the Prime Minister's Media Adviser, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this evening felt unwell and was taken to the Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. "Since the Prime Minister's treatment requires that he be anesthetized, Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon spoke a short while ago with Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Attorney-General Meni Mazuz; it was decided that Prime Minister Sharon's authority would be transferred to Acting Prime Minister Olmert, who is receiving regular updates regarding Prime Minister Sharon's condition. The Cabinet is now being updated."

Sharon, who has always laughed off adversity, is in a very grave medical situation. According to a medical expert, the procedure is life threatening. Asked what are the chances of surviving this type of surgery, the doctor replied, "Let's be optimistic, some people survive it." The prime minister's close associates said of his condition: "Hope for a miracle."

According to Justice Ministry spokesman Ya'acov Galant, a prime minister legally remains in his post only as long as he is capable of making decisions. Since Sharon is not conscious after suffering from what doctors termed "a serious stroke," his powers and prerogatives were transferred to his deputy, Finance Minister Ehud Olmert.

The Rabbinate in Israel is now organizing a prayer rally service at the Jerusalem's Western Wall. When Sharon had been rushed to the hospital shortly after 10 p.m., his spokesmen claimed that Sharon was conscious and able to speak, but had complained that he was suffering from weakness and "felt ill." Sharon reached the hospital and was carried in on a stretcher shortly before 11 p.m., and was admitted to the hospital's emergency room.

Sharon, who is 77, suffered a "significant'' stroke and was brought to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital from his ranch in the Negev desert, an official said. Israel Channel 2 TV said Sharon was suffering from paralysis in his lower body and was taken into the hospital on a stretcher.

Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the hospital's director general, said Sharon was under general anesthetic and was receiving breathing assistance while doctors assessed his condition. A few minutes later, Mor-Yosef emerged to say that initial tests showed Sharon had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding in his brain. Addressing reporters in English, Mor-Yosef said Sharon had "massive bleeding and was being transferred to an operating theatre.''

Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon said Sharon's authority had been transferred to Vice- Premier Ehud Olmert. The latest health crisis came hours before Sharon was to undergo a procedure to seal a hole in his heart that contributed to a mild stroke on Dec. 18. Since then, his doctors said in a briefing a week ago, Sharon has lost several pounds.

The dramatic downturn in Sharon's health comes as Sharon runs for re-election on March 28 at the head of a new centrist party, Kadima, and he enjoys a wide lead in the polls. The party's strength is centered on Sharon himself, and if he were forced to leave the scene. Israel's political scene would be thrown into turmoil. Sharon's office said his personal physician was with him. He was taken by ambulance, a drive of more than an hour from his ranch in the Negev Desert in Israel's south, instead of by helicopter.

On Dec. 18, Sharon was taken to Hadassah Hospital from his office after suffering a mild stroke. Doctors said he would not suffer long-term effects from the stroke, but they discovered a birth defect in his heart that apparently contributed to the stroke. Security agents and police spread out around the Jerusalem hospital before Sharon arrived, setting up a security perimeter. Since the first stroke, Sharon has been receiving blood thinners to try to prevent a recurrence of the clotting that caused the stroke. Sharon was scheduled to check into the Jerusalem hospital on Thursday for the procedure repairing a tiny hole between the upper chambers of his heart. Doctors said the blood clot that briefly lodged in Sharon's brain on Dec. 18, causing the stroke, made its way through the hold and from there to a cranial artery.

Ariel (“Arik”) Sharon was born at Kfar Malal in Israel on February 27, 1928. He served in the Israel Defense Forces for more than 25 years, retiring with the rank of Major-General. He holds an LL.B in Law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1962).

Sharon joined the Israel Haganah at the age of 14 in 1942. During the 1948 Israel War of Independence, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. In 1953, he founded and led the "101" special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations.

Sharon was appointed commander of a Paratroop Corps in 1956 and fought in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957 he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain. During 1958-62, Sharon served as Infantry Brigade Commander and then Infantry School Commander, and attended Law School at Tel Aviv University. He was appointed Head of the Northern Command Staff in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Department in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed Head of the Southern Command Staff.

Sharon resigned from the army in June 1972, but was recalled to active military service in the 1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. He led the crossing of the Suez Canal which brought about victory in the war and eventual peace with Egypt. Ariel Sharon was elected to the Knesset in December 1973, but resigned a year later, serving as Security Adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1975). He was elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. Following the elections, he joined the Herut party and was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Menachem Begin's first government (1977-81).

One of his priorities was to pursue agricultural cooperation with Egypt. In 1981 Ariel Sharon was appointed Defense Minister, serving in this post during the Lebanon War, which brought about the destruction of the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. In the realm of international relations, he was instrumental in renewing diplomatic relations with the African nations which had broken off ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War. In November 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. and widened defense ties between Israel and many nations. He also helped bring thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan.

In 1983, Sharon resigned as Israel Defense Minister after a government commission found him indirectly responsible for the September 1982 massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Lebanese Christians. Sharon remained in the government as a minister without portfolio and then served as Minister of Industry and Trade from 1984-90. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.

From 1990-1992, he served as Israel Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the waves of immigration from Russia, he initiated and carried out a program to absorb the immigrants throughout the country, including the construction of 144,000 apartments. From 1992-1996, he served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1996, Ariel Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure and was involved in fostering joint ventures with Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians. He also served as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin advancement. In 1998, Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. While serving as Foreign Minister, Sharon met with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process. He worked mostly to create and advance projects such as the Flagship Water Project funded by the international community to find a long-term solution to the region's water crisis and a basis to peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries.

Following the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in May 1999, Ariel Sharon was called upon to become interim Likud party leader following the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu. In September 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Likud. He also served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset. In a special election held February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister. He presented his government to the Knesset on March 7, 2001. After calling early elections to the 16th Knesset, which were held on January 28, 2003, Ariel Sharon was charged by the president with the task of forming a government and presented his new government to the Knesset on February 27, 2003. Sharon is widowed and has two sons.

At this time Sharon, who has provided both security and stability to Israel and the region, is still being operated on with his condition being described as "stable but grave." Asked if Sharon will survive, a hospital spokesperson could not answer.

"He is a fighter," said Sharon media advisor Ranan Gissin. "We pray that he will win this battle as well."

No one SHOULD have made such a stupid decision. The latest in a line of stupid decisions dating to June 1967, when Israel had the opportunity and duty to settle matters once and for all, and failed. Successive failures came in 1977, 1982 and 1993 and on and on. Appeasement after appeasement, only to bring more terror, more bloodshed. Your post is such a crock.

Ditto, minus the unnecessary last line. Also, Montag, he is still a basically decent man who has sacrificed most of his life for the safety and security of Israel and her citizens. While I strongly disagree and disapprove of his extreme appeasement of terrorists and giving away a portion of the Land, he did many good things in the past. If you're going to judge him (which is a job for no human being), then at least look at the whole picture.

According to news ticker on JPost: Sharon's doctor [not the neurosurgeons] says operation going as planned.

On Haaretz:

01:19
Sharon`s physician says he expects PM to emerge from surgery `safely` (AP)

01:18
Sharon aide Ra`anan Gissin: Prime minister`s condition stable (CNN)

However, no more news on his condition for the last 45 mins.

Hopefully, if he dies, the Israeli public and the Bush administration will remember his legacy by taking the rest of the necessary steps for peace.

Oh, puleaze...peace with those who don't recognize your very right to exist, and who daily call for the extermination of your people, is utterly impossible. Taking "the necessary steps for peace" involves nothing less than returning Israel (possibly by force) to its wholly indefensible pre-'67 borders - IF, that is, Israel's Baal-worshipping neighbors are satisfied with that (and Iran's chief Baal-worshipper certainly isn't, and will soon have atomic weapons).

In the meantime it is politics as usual in the MidEast:

01:49
Hamas representative in Lebanon: If Sharon isn`t PM, it will affect PA poll (Itim)

Also on JPost news ticker it says that Palestinian election committee quits.

(WestVirginiaRebel: My condolences for the loss of the lives of the 12 WV miners.)

Montag, he is still a basically decent man who has sacrificed most of his life for the safety and security of Israel and her citizens

Amen to that. He also was one of the most brilliant military tacticians in history, who's tank heroics in the 1973 war are studied at the U.S. Army War College to this very day.

But Barak and Rabin also sacrificed much of their lives to defending Israel...ONLY to abandon it at its most critical hours. Oslo was a disgraceful betrayal. Barak was willing to give the Arabs half of Jersualem--which even Rabin would never even consider (thank goodness Arafat said no). This from the same Barak who led a daring mission and kept nukes out of Iraqi hands. But he ended up a schmuck who stabbed Israel in the back and even convincved Clinton to pardon Marc Rich! Vile! As Vito Corleone said "This I will NOT forgive". I feel the same way about Sharon's action with regard to Gaza, and Bibi's actions with regard to Hebron. Sharon did far less to harm Israel than did Rabin. But he had failed as a leader. I wish him well, but Israel needs a man who can say "NO" to the world which hates Jews, and looks the other way at Muslim aggression.

First of all, God bless him..

But I can't say I'm surprised. He hasn't been acting very rational the last few months IMHO;. Pressure on the brain or something.

'Interesting times'

Prayers for Israel, Prayers for Sharon.

Hopefully, if he dies, the Israeli public and the Bush administration will remember his legacy by taking the rest of the necessary steps for peace.

"Peace" meaning carving up more Israeli land and giving it to Hamas? No thank you. Time to end the "Road Map" to Auschwitz once and for all.

What it means is that there hasn't been any further vascular catastrophe. Mr Sharon is of course in a very serious condition. And even if he survives the operation there are no guarantees that he will ever recover consciousness or his full faculties.

In all likelihood his political career is over - let's pray that he recovers enough to live a number of useful and happy years in retirement.

Thanks...amazingly, our local newpaper (Morning edition only) had a headline that they had still been found alive...OT, but I expect a HUGE retraction tomorrow, as their website now has the correct story.

As for the Palis, maybe they can dig up Arafart and have him run again...

They did a pretty good job defending their borders pre-Six Days War, so I'm not sure which borders you're talking about. However, what will hurt Israel in the long run is the diversion of its soldiers to protect religious fanatics who insist on living in isolated settlements surrounded by hostile neighbors. Protecting Israel proper from Iran is much more important than clinging to indefensible settlements.

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