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Ariel Sharon

11th Prime Minister of Israel

Ariel Sharon

Chronology of His Life and Career

February 27, 1928 Ariel Scheinermann born in Kafr Malal, Palestine.

1942 Joined the Haganah underground.

1948 Participated in the First Palestinian War.

1951-1952 Served as an intelligence officer in the Central and North commands.

1953 Founded and led a special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations against Palestinian fedayeen.

1956 Commanded a paratroop corps during the Suez-Sinai War, during which he acted against orders to try and conquer the Mitla Pass, causing many casualties on the Israeli side.

1957 Sent to Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.

1958-1962 Served as Infantry Brigade Commander and then Infantry School Commander.

1962 Earned his LL.B in law from Hebrew University.

1964 Appointed head of the Northern Command Staff.

1966 Appointed head of the Army Training Department.

1967 Promoted to Brigadier General.
June 1967 Commanded a division during the Six-Day War.

1969 Appointed head of the Southern Command Staff.

June 1972 Left the army with rank of Major-General and joined the Gahal party. Subsequently active in formation of the Likud party.

October 1973 Recalled to active military service to successfully command an armored division in the Yom Kippur War, during which he led the successful crossing of the Suez Canal.

December 1973 Elected to the Knesset.

1974 Resigned from the Knesset to take a senior emergency position in the military reserves.

1975 Became Security Adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

1976 Formed the Shlomzion party, which subsequently secured two seats in the Knesset in 1977.

1977 Joined the Shlomzion with the Herut faction of the Likud party.

1977-1981 Minister of Agriculture in the government of Menachem Begin. Pursued agricultural cooperation with Egypt and expanded Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

1981-1983 Defense Minister -- Instrumental in renewing diplomatic relations with the African nations which had broken off ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War; widened defense ties between Israel and many nations; brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S., in November 1981; and helped bring thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan. Forced to resign on February 13, 1983, after an investigation committee found him indirectly responsible for the September 1982 massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps by Lebanese Phalangists.

1984 Lost election as leader of Likud.

1984-1990 Minister of Trade and Industry in the government of Shimon Peres. Concluded a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985. His resignation led to the destablization and subsequent overthrow of government.

1990-1992 Minister of Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption in goverment of Yitzhak Shamir. Accelerated building projects in occupied territory in order to accomodate waves of immigrants from Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union. Resigned after the defeat of Likud in elections.

1992-1996 Member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

1996 Minister of National Infrastructure and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin Advancement. Involved in fostering joint ventures with Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine.

October 9, 1998-May 27, 1999 Foreign Minister in government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Headed the permanent status negotiations with Palestinian Authority, and met with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process.

May 27, 1999 Became leader of Likud upon the resignation of Netanyahu. Elected Chairman in September.

May 27, 1999-February 6, 2001 Member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset.

February 6, 2001 Became Prime Minister in a landslide election, defeating Ehud Barak with nearly 60% of votes cast. He proposed a coalition government with Barak as Defense Minister, but Barak declined.

December 2001 Following several Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, ordered the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, the killing of both terrorists and civilians, and stripping of the powers of Yasser Arafat.

February 2, 2004 Declared a plan to remove all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. More than 8,500 settlers were evacuated between August 16 and 30, 2005. Israeli soldiers left Gaza on September 11, 2005, ending a 38-year presence.

November 20, 2005 Resigned from Likud in protest of the decision by Labour Party leader Amir Perez to leave the coalition government, as well as opposition within his own party against peace initiatives toward Palestinians. Formed a new centrist party, Kadima.

December 18, 2005 Suffered a minor stroke.

January 4, 2006 Suffered a serious hemorrhagic stroke, with bleeding in the brain. He subsequently underwent surgery to stop the bleeding, but went into an induced coma. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert became acting Prime Minister, and was subsequently elected Prime Minister in a special election.

January 11, 2013 Die at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer (a suburb of Tel Aviv).

Sources

Encyclopedia of the Orient lexicorient.com
Jewish Virtual Library www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
MidEast Web www.mideastweb.org

See Also

Great Britain
Egypt
Ethiopia
Sudan
Russia
Jordan
Egypt
Benjamin Netanyahu
Yasser Arafat

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The Robinson Library >> Israel >> History

This page was last updated on December 27, 2018.