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."

This is the same kind of stroke that killed FDR. Pray for Sharon. He probably has very little time left on this earth.

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He probably has very little time left on this earth.
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There are many who are not upset about that...especially Israelis looking hard at what has happened to their lands...

R'fuah Shelaima, Arik. I don't care for the recent turn of his politics (into the realm of extreme appeasement), but he's a human being who deserves sympathy for his plight. Further, he's a genuine Israeli hero several times over, and all people who care about Israel should be saddened by this news. Certainly he is out of politics for good.

That being said, now I hope that his new party gets its rear end handed to it, with Bibi being elected PM and Shimon Peres getting nothing. That'll stop the appeasement right quick!

This does not look good.
Many of us in Israel are in tears.
Sharon is the most popular PM we have ever had.
He represented stability and security.

A brave soldier in war, in peace.
I do not want to write an obit.

Ariel Sharon is the only man with sufficient courage to make the hard decisions. I cannot imagine the agony this man had to endure to order the evacuation of the indefensable settlements in Gaza. A difficult and costly decision to say the very least. The trail of tears and shame as the soldiers forced their own parents from their childhood homes.

All to create a strategically defensable border between the barbaric and murderous arabs and the peaceful and productive israelies who were HIS CHARGE to protect. Nobody else would have or could have made that heartwrenching decision.

May the lord bless this wise, brave and courageous soldiers soul. And at the proper time welcome him into eternal peace.

Amen and Amen.

All to create a strategically defensable border between the barbaric and murderous arabs and the peaceful and productive israelies who were HIS CHARGE to protect. Nobody else would have or could have made that heartwrenching decision.

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.

I am sitting here in the U.S. alternately crying and praying for Ariel Sharon to make it. My prayers are with you and all the good people of Israel, too.

indefensable settlements in Gaza

Indefensive, eh? So millions of Arabs can live in Israel, vote and even serve in Parliament. But a single Jew dares to want to live in Gaza or Judea or Samaria? No f**king way.

Chalk Samurai_Jack up as a supporter of ethnic cleansing.

Nice sentiment there.

Frankly, I think that Sharon has made many heroic decisions over the past few years by both protecting the Israelis from terrorism and making the necessary concessions for peace. 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.

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