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The life and times of Ariel Sharon

Al Jazeera takes a look back at the career of a controversial military and political leader.

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Ariel Sharon (2nd L) stands with Moshe Dayan (3rd L) and other military commanders in this picture taken October 28, 1955 and released by Israel(***)s Defence Ministry. Sharon created Israel(***)s modern "military norms" through his founding of a secretive "retribution squad", Unit 101, that operated through the 1950s and 1960s.
Published On 13 Jan 2014

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died. 

He was 85 years old and had been in a coma since 2006 when a stroke incapacitated him at the height of his political power.

Sharon was one of Israel’s most iconic and controversial figures. As one of Israel’s most famous generals, he was known for bold tactics and an occasional refusal to obey orders. As a politician he became known as “the bulldozer”, a man contemptuous of his critics while also capable of getting things done. 

As defence minister, Sharon would be the moving force behind the decision to invade Lebanon in 1982, as a bloody way to expel the Palestinians from their strongholds there and destabilise a northern neighbour.

Today, Sharon’s military philosophy is reflected in the Israeli army’s Dahiya doctrine – its policy in recent confrontations to send Israel’s neighbours in Gaza and Lebanon “into the dark ages” through massive destruction of their physical infrastructure.

Ariel Sharon (L) stands with Moshe Dayan (2nd R) during a military operation on September 11, 1956. In Israel(***)s early years, Unit 101 carried out reprisals against Palestinian fighters across the armistice lines, in an attempt to deter future enemy raids into Israeli territory. In practice, however, the price was paid as much by civilians as fighters.
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Major General Ariel Sharon (far left) stands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (C) and Major General Adam Yekutiel in the Sinai Peninsula in February 19, 1976. Sharon was a special aid to Rabin, and helped found the Likud party.
Israeli Major General Ariel Sharon watches an aerial drop through his binoculars June 8, 1967 in the Sinai Peninsula, then occupied by Israel, during the Six Day War.
Israeli Major General in the Reserves Ariel Sharon (front L) rides in a jeep in October 1973. During the Yom Kippur War, Sharon(***)s troops moved across the Suez and surrounded the Egyptian forces. His tactic has largely been regarded as responsible for winning Israel(***)s ground strategy.
While Sharon was Defence Minister in 1982, up to 3,500 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon were massacred by Israeli-backed Christian militias. This massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp led to some call Sharon as "the butcher of Beirut". 
Palestinian negotiator Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon meet. After years of helping to establish settlements in the occupied territories, Sharon vigorously opposed the signing of the Oslo peace accords in 1993.
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Former US President George W Bush (C), Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (L) and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) waved for the photographers before their meeting on advancing the "road map" for peace at the Middle East Summit in Aqaba, Jordan, June 4, 2003. The "road map" ended in failure.
Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The next year, Sharon suffered a massive stroke and fell into a long-term vegetative state until his death on January 11, 2014.