Israeli former prime minister Ariel Sharon died at the age of 85 on Saturday Jan 11,2014 after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke he suffered at the pinnacle of his political power.
Ariel Sharon was one of Israel's finest military strategists and most powerful and decisive political figures who spearheaded military campaigns in several wars with the Arab world, expanded Jewish settlement-building on land the Palestinians want for a state, and made the shock decision to withdraw from one of those territories, the Gaza Strip
Ariel Sharon was known as "the Bulldozer", in part for his headlong pursuit of hardline policies that included a major growth in settlements across terrain Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Prime minister from 2001 to 2006,Ariel Sharon was incapacitated by a stroke shortly after he quit the right-wing Likud party and founded a centrist faction to advance peace with the Palestinians, whose 2000-2005 "Intifada" uprising he had battled with air strikes and fierce military offensives.
Before becoming ill, Sharon was said to have been planning further withdrawals of Jewish settlers and troops from Palestinian lands in hopes of fulfilling the central goal of his life: ensuring a viable and strong state for the Jewish people in their historic homeland.
A memorial service will be held in parliament on Monday before an afternoon funeral at the Sharon family's Sycamore Farm. Israeli generals will serve as pallbearers.
US Vice President Joe Biden headed to Israel on Sunday and was due to deliver a eulogy for Sharon at Monday's service in Jerusalem.
Among other foreign dignitaries expected to attend the ceremony were British prime minister Tony Blair, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and delegates from Russia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia, Singapore, Belgium and the Czech Republic.
"As Israel says goodbye to Prime Minister Sharon, we join with the Israeli people in honouring his commitment to his country," said US President Barack Obama
Ariel Sharon's funeral to be held on Monday Jan 13,2014 afternoon at his southern ranch after a memorial service earlier in the day in parliament
Ariel Sharon's coffin will be placed at parliament in Jerusalem on Sunday to enable the public to pay their last respects.
Army radio said the coffin would be there between 1000 GMT and 1600 GMT.
Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) stands near the flag-draped coffin
of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as he lies in state at the
Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem on January 12, 2014
Members of the Knesset (Israel's Parliament) guard stand around the flag draped coffin of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon
Monday's proceedings will start with a ceremony at Jerusalem's Knesset, or parliament, at 0730 GMT, the report said
Affectionately known as "Arik" among his loyalists, Sharon will be buried next to his second wife, Lily, after a military funeral at 1200 GMT.
About Ariel Sharon
Sharon was born Ariel Scheinerman on Feb. 27, 1928, on a semicollective farm, or moshav, named Kfar Malal, about 15 miles northeast of Tel Aviv. His parents, Samuel Scheinerman and the former Vera Schneirov, had emigrated from Russia. His mother, from a wealthy Belarussian family, was forced to interrupt her studies in medicine by the Russian Revolution. His father was a Zionist youth leader and agronomy student in Russia and a farmer in Palestine
After graduation and a special course, he became a Gadna instructor at an agricultural school. His own instructor, Micah Almog, told biographers that even then Sharon refused to follow any script given to him and insisted on teaching his own way. He also joined the Haganah, the main underground Zionist fighting brigade, which became the Israel Defense Forces after independence.
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