TEL AVIV, January 11 (RIA Novosti) – Ariel Sharon, acclaimed military commander and former Prime Minister of Israel, died Saturday at the age of 85 after eight years in coma, a representative of his clinic told journalists.
Sharon was in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke in 2006. Medics reported last week that his condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Sharon, a son of Russian and Polish Jews who moved to Israel before his birth, participated in most wars fought by the Jewish state since 1940s.
He rose through ranks to become a leading strategist who played a major role in Israel’s victory over Arab countries in the Six-Day War of 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973.
Sharon held various ministerial posts since 1981, serving as a prime minister in 2001-2006.
Initially an advocate of Jewish settling of the disputed West Bank and Gaza Strip, Sharon began unilateral dismantling of Israeli settlements in the area during his tenure as a prime minister in a radical bid to settle differences with Palestinians.
However, he failed to see the program through to the end due to his stroke.
Sharon is survived by two sons, Gilad and Omri.
The article was changed from original version to include new source and dateline.
