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Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remains comatose and attached to a respirator nearly two years after a devastating stroke, a spokesman for Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said Sunday. "There is no change in his condition," hospital spokesman David Weinberg said. Sharon, 79, was transferred to Sheba's long-term respiratory rehabilitation unit in July 2006 from Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, which treated him after his stroke in January of that year. Since Sharon's stroke, he has undergone three brain operations, abdominal surgery and three minor surgical procedures. Under established Jewish legal codes, it is forbidden to do anything to...

Probably by consensus, the best military memoirs written in the past 200 years are Ulysses S. Grant’s. Grant had a wonderful story to tell, and never suffered from a shortage of opinions. He was also a great writer, although it probably didn’t hurt that (if the rumors are true), he got some assistance on the prose front from Mark Twain. Whatever the case, Grant’s memoirs make for a fabulous and incredible read. Fans of military memoirs universally revere Grant’s. Thus, a lot of them probably won’t like the following statement: Ariel Sharon’s autobiography “Warrior” is a better, more compelling book....

Excerpt - Former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a stroke in January and has been in a coma since, was moved to an intensive care unit on Friday after a worsening in his condition, the hospital treating him said. "Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said in a statement. "At this point, his condition is stable." ~ snip ~

JERUSALEM (AP) A hospital spokeswoman says former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been rushed to the emergency room.

ONE man is missing from the military crisis. Far from the sound and fury of battle on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Ariel Sharon lies in a coma in a clinic in a Tel Aviv suburb. The former Israeli Prime Minister, once a general and a war hero, has been on hand for almost every decisive moment in the country’s short history, but is absent from the fray. Instead, his sons Omri and Gilad and his wife, Inbal, take it in turns to watch over the 78-year-old in his bright room with its picture window in the Sheba Medical Centre. Close friends...

The sordid tale now making the rounds in the "mainstream" press of a rogue Pentagon intelligence operation has all the elements of an urban legend: heavy breathing, a secret basement office "down by the ramp" and government officials who form a hidden alliance based on long-ago ties to an obscure but influential university guru. Only the work of a few good men with the courage to face up to this "cabal" - and a few crusader-journalists to help them - can make the demons scatter and scare the dark ones into the light. Or so the story goes on those...

Channel 2 television reported Thursday evening that disabled Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is like a vegetable and soon will be moved to Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv and then to his Negev Sycamore Ranch home. The television news program also stated that doctors have admitted they gave Sharon an excessive does of blood thinner.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- The Israeli government has declared Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will officially give up the premiership on Friday, 100 days after he suffered his incapacitating stroke on January 4. The cabinet is scheduled to meet in a special session Tuesday and declare that, as of Friday, Sharon will be considered "permanently unable to exercise his duties." Ehud Olmert, who has been serving since January 4 as acting prime minister, will be named interim prime minister. This designation - which does not entail any change in the authority Olmert has enjoyed since filling in for Sharon - will also take effect on Friday. Olmert, who led...

When being anti-Israel is anti-Semitic Bernard Pinsky There has been much discussion and finger pointing about criticism of Israel, its actions and its policies, and Israel's defenders' claims that much of the criticism is based on anti-Semitism. Critics of Israel say they cannot speak out for fear of being labeled anti-Semitic. Defenders of Israel are concerned that anti-Semitism is the basis for the criticism in many cases. It is therefore important to know when in fact anti-Israel rhetoric is founded in, results from or itself creates anti-Semitism. 1. When the media prints every allegation against Israel, no matter how...

The surgical procedure Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to undergo Tuesday was postponed due to a mild respiratory infection. Sharon was to undergo surgery at Hadassah Hospital in Jersualem to replace a section of his skull which was removed in an initial emergency operation to allow access to damaged portions of his brain. The operation is intended to prepare the comotose Sharon for a move to a chronic care facility... The decision to transfer Sharon to another facility was based on the lack of improvement in his condition.... Sharon will be transferred to a hospital where he can receive care...

In recent times, the killing of those who are "in a coma" and a "persistent vegetative state" begins with the 1976 case of Karen Ann Quinlan, who stopped breathing after a drug overdose. Her family wanted to kill her by removing a respirator and the New Jersey Supreme Court agreed. It was thought that removing the "life support" would result in her death. As it turned out she lived nine more years until she died of pneumonia in 1985. The one voice in the mainstream media of the day that didn't want the respirator taken off was wondering how much...

JERUSALEM — Ariel Sharon, comatose since suffering a massive stroke in January, will be moved to a long-term care facility after elections later this month, Israeli Channel 10 TV reported Friday. The Israeli prime minister will be moved to the Sheba Medical Center outside Tel Aviv, Channel 10 said, quoting hospital officials. Doctors have said that every day Sharon, 78, fails to regain consciousness, his chances for recovery diminish. Sharon has had seven operations, including three brain surgeries, since the Jan. 4 stroke. But the popular leader stars in campaign ads for the Kadima party he founded just weeks before...

No Trust between Israel’s Right and Left By Susan L. Rosenbluth, The Jewish Voice and Opinion, Englewood, NJ   Someone once joked that the Israeli chicken is made up of a Left wing and a Right wing and nothing in the middle. These days, not only is this true, it seems to be getting worse. With elections coming at the end of March, the two sides are locked in a struggle in which the lack of trust is the only common denominator. Neither the Right nor the Left accepts Kadima, which was started by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last...

Disclaimer: Reading this following article can be dangerous to your health. People with a heart condition should not attempt to read it. Also do not attempt to drive or operate heavy machinery. Do NOT open windows, but rather us a bucket to vomit. Opening the window may result in jumping out of it after reading several passages. LONDON, July 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Following the attack by U.S. author Gore Vidal on U.S. President George W. Bush’s so-called war on terror, John Pilger launched yet another attack in his book ‘The New Rulers of the World.’ “The rulers...

Israel: Ariel Sharon Near DeathBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem-----February 11.......Israel has been praying for a miracle. For Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to wake up from a stroke induced coma, smile and tell us that we should not be worrying about his health. But on this sunny and cold day in Jerusalem, the news is not good. And most of Israel will not know that Sharon may be living his last hours until they switch on their TV or check their e-mail tonight. A hospital spokeswoman in Jerusalem has just stated that the Israel Prime Minister's "life is in danger."...

ARIEL Sharon's departure from Israel's political scene was made official on Tuesday by the absence of his name from the list of candidates for the March parliamentary election unveiled by the party he founded. Sharon, incapacitated by a Jan. 4 stroke, cannot run in the ballot because he could not sign a form to confirm his candidacy for the centrist Kadima, a party spokeswoman said. It will be the first election in three decades in which Sharon, 77, has not run. "All our hearts are with him," Israel's Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has assumed Sharon's duties, told a...

Israeli officials convened emergency meetings on Thursday to decide how to respond to the militant Hamas group's upset victory in Palestinian elections, maintaining an outward silence while privately blaming each other for the upheaval. Hamas' stunning showing in Wednesday's vote could send tremors through Israel's own political establishment ahead of March elections by bolstering hawks who oppose territorial concessions to the Palestinians. 'snip' "After Hamas is elected, can the world not talk to them?" former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Army Radio. "The world will speak to them saying that they were elected in a democratic process ... I think...

HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would have to give up parts of the occupied West Bank to set a border with the Palestinians in his first policy speech since replacing Ariel Sharon. "In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national home, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives," he said on Tuesday. Olmert was addressing the Herzliya security conference where Sharon first flagged last year's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Hinting that Israel would act alone to set a...

This week, Georgetown University began announcing the Fifth Annual Student Palestine Solidarity Conference on the University’s website using the same rhetoric that Duke University used in announcing a similar event almost two years ago. The Conference is being billed as a testimonial to the exercise of "freedom of speech" and the participants are telling everyone they are "peace activists" even though they refuse to condemn terrorism. And, in true form, Al-Awda, one of the main organizations of the ISM, immediately dispatched an open email to its membership. The following email was sent out as an “open letter” by Al Awda...

Jan. 11, 2006 0:34 | Updated Jan. 11, 2006 15:01 Kadima seeks to place Sharon at top of party list By GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST.COM Kadima officials began examining the feasability of placing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the top of the party's list, if he were found competent to serve from a medical standpoint. Regardless of the final decision, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will remain Kadima's candidate for prime minister in the March 28 elections. The initiative depends on Sharon's continued recovery. READ MORE ON ARIEL SHARON'S TREATMENT: * PM treated as all * Best not just for...

Jan. 7, 2006 21:24 Kadima after Sharon By ELLIOT JAGER As these words are being written, Ariel Sharon lies in a coma in the intensive care unit of Hadassah Hospital, Ein Kerem. The prognosis isn't known, yet it's obvious he won't be returning to the Prime Minister's Office. His career is finished. Still, the party he founded at the end of November remains not only politically viable but essential to Israel's political well-being. Kadima already has an iconic founder, a working party platform, an organizational director (Avigdor Yitzhaki), a plethora of talented politicians and, most importantly, an overarching mission that...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Doctors treating Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expect to make a decision on Sunday on when to try to bring him out of a medically induced coma and assess the extent of brain damage from a severe stroke. Surgeons at Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital, where the 77-year-old has been under sedation and on a respirator since Wednesday's stroke, say there is a good chance he will survive but do not know how much his faculties have been impaired. "Tomorrow is the day of truth," neurosurgeon Jose Cohen told Channel 2 television late on Saturday. "Tomorrow we will all...

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the most powerful Israeli leader in 50 years, has died. He was 77. Sharon was declared dead by physicians at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital before 1 p.m. Israeli time [6 a.m. EST], Middle East Newsline reported. Authorities have already been notified of the death, and a government announcement was expected to be issued over the next hour.

In an extraordinary attempt to save the life of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, doctors in Jerusalem operated twice on his brain for a total of nearly nine hours, then put him into an anesthesia-induced coma and connected him to a mechanical respirator, his medical team said yesterday. The measures were desperate and, experts agreed, unlikely to succeed, but they were about all that remained in the effort to save Mr. Sharon's life and to retain as much of his motor functions and intellectual skills as possible after the horrific hemorrhagic stroke he suffered Wednesday. It was Mr. Sharon's...

LONDON - The blood thinner may be to blame for the severity of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke, but his doctors should not be criticized for prescribing it, independent experts said Thursday. Sharon was fighting for his life in an Israeli hospital after seven hours of surgery to remove blood from the right side of his brain following a burst blood vessel, or hemorrhagic stroke. His doctors said they planned to keep him sedated for another 72 hours. Experts say his chances of recovery are slim. Experts agree that while the blood thinner, an anticoagulant called enoxaparin, did not...

[Israeli] Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is sedated and on a respirator but clinging to life after a massive stroke. Surgeons at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital say they have stemmed the bleeding in the 77-year-old leader's brain in a seven-hour operation. They describe his condition as critical but stable. Hospital director Shlomo Mor-Yosef says Mr Sharon will be kept in "deep sedation" and on a respirator for at least the next 24 hours. Dr Mor-Yosef did not say how much brain damage Mr Sharon may have suffered and gave no prognosis for recovery. A cerebral haemorrhage, or bleeding stroke, felled Mr Sharon...

Jan. 5, 2006 12:11 | Updated Jan. 5, 2006 12:24 Sheetrit: Kadima must choose leader By JPOST.COM STAFF In the midst of the dire health of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and the rising uncertainty as to the political direction of the country, many political figures Thursday morning preferred to stick with wishing Sharon a speedy recovery without making political speculations. However, Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit broke that trend, telling Channel 10 that he is calling on the Kadima Party council to hold a meeting within 48 hours due to the prime minister's condition, "in order to decide who will lead...

Jan. 5, 2006 9:34 | Updated Jan. 5, 2006 9:41 Olmert convenes cabinet session By HERB KEINON Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert chaired a cabinet meeting at 9 am to signal the orderly transfer of powers. "This is a difficult situation that we are not used to," Olmert said at the opening of a meeting that ended roughly half an hour later. He said that after receiving a briefing from Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz, "we will at the end of the meeting return to running the affairs of the state, and continue to pray and hope for good news from the...

Updated Jan. 5, 2006 7:09 Hemorrhaging continues after six-hour surgery By HERB KEINON, GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST STAFF After a six-hour operation for cerebral hemorrhaging that continued for most of Wednesday night, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was returned to the operating room after a CAT scan revealed additional areas of cerebral bleeding. Several of Sharon's advisors left the emergency room with what journalists described as "poker faces." When pressed for details on his condition, they refused to comment. Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director General of the Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital, said Thursday morning that the first operation had apparently stopped the...

Jan. 5, 2006 4:31 Palestinian commentator praises Sharon on Saudi TV By ASSOCIATED PRESS Ghazi al-Saadi, a Palestinian commentator on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya network, offered Ariel Sharon unexpected praise as "the first Israeli leader who stopped claiming Israel had a right to all of the Palestinians' land," a reference to Israel's recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "A live Sharon is better for the Palestinians now, despite all the crimes he has committed against us," al-Saadi said.

From Ha'aretz/Kol Israel Reshet Aleph: 06:14 Settler leader: All Israelis, Gaza evacuees too, hope for PM`s recovery (Israel Radio) From The Jerusalem Post: Jan. 5, 2006 6:20 Gaza rabbi believes evacuees will pray for PM By JPOST.COM STAFF Rabbi Yosef Elnekaveh, regional rabbi of Gaza, said early Thursday in an interview to Israel Radio that despite the pain of the disengagement, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had worked for years to build Israel. "He is a brother," Elnekaveh said, adding that the Jewish people should pray for Sharon's recovery. Elnekaveh stated that he believed that most of the Gush Katif evacuees...

06:55 Doctor: Sharon still under anesthesia, in very serious condition (Haaretz) 06:55 Hadassah doctor: You could say Sharon is in serious condition (Haaretz) 06:54 Doctor: We expect surgery to continue for a few more hours (Haaretz) 06:53 Sharon still in operating room (Haaretz)

JERUSALEM – Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip are watching the news regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's deteriorating health carefully and will celebrate with Qassam rocket firings at Jewish towns if Sharon dies, terror leaders told WorldNetDaily. One militant leader threatened the life of Sharon's temporary replacement, Deputy Minister Ehud Olmert, who was installed as prime minister just hours ago. "I am ready with my candies and my rockets and praying to Allah that Sharon dies. We have prepared a celebratory barrage of rockets ready to fire into Israel on the occasion of the death of our enemy," said...

JERUSALEM (AP) The prime minister's office says Ariel Sharon has been rushed to a Jerusalem hospital after feeling ill.

Missed Opportunities... Again The Palestinians ...have never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity--Abba Eban, 1978 That quote, about the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has been used by Israeli politicians and their supporters for decades now. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak extended it to the Palestinians as a whole. I have used the Barak version in a previous post myself. Sadly, Abba Eban's words seem more true now than ever and seem to be true of every aspiring Palestinian leader on the scene today. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, now leading his new centrist Kadima (literally "forward") party,...

Dec. 18, 2005 20:20 | Updated Dec. 19, 2005 1:29 PM recovers from mild stroke, saying 'Time to move forward (kadima)' By JPOST.COM STAFF Omri Sharon arrives at the hospital to visit his father. Photo: AP While recovering from a mild stroke on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon joked with his medical and office staff, telling them that they "are not rid of him yet." He added in a bit of self-humor that he thought he should take a few days off. Using a double entendre on the name of his new political party Kadima (forward in Hebrew), he...

JERUSALEM – Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are celebrating reports Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is hospitalized after suffering a minor stroke tonight, with the leader of Hamas – a trained physician – offering WND his own prognosis and one terror leader claiming his group is responsible for causing the Israeli leader the stress that brought about his health condition. According to reports, Sharon was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital reportedly after losing consciousness, and is currently undergoing neurological tests to determine if there is any damage from what doctors are calling a minor stroke. Dr. Mahmud al-Zahar, Hamas chief...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been taken to a hospital, Israeli television reports.

Israel has vowed to eliminate the leadersip of the Islamic Jihad group after a Palestinian suicide bombing yesterday killed five Israelis. The attack, which took place at a busy shopping mall, was carried out by a member of the radical Palestinian organisation, which has claimed responsibility for most terrorist attacks on Israel. Ariel Sharon, currently fighting an election campaign against foes who accuse him of being too soft on Palestine, convened his security cabinet to lay out plans to retaliate for the bombing. Shaul Mofaz, Israel's defense minister, authorised the assassination of the leaders of Islamic Jihad and asked for...

ov. 26, 2005 23:20 | Updated Nov. 27, 2005 19:22 Sharon waits to appoint ministers By GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST STAFF Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepares to leave the Knesset. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was expected to appoint the six ministers who joined his new Kadima party to temporarily fill the vacancies left by the seven Labor ministers who quit the government last week, will continue to hold the portfolios of the Labor ministers who resigned for at least another 10 days. Attorney General Meni Mazuz recommended that the government be designated a government in transition...

Last update - 20:19 24/11/2005 Lapid: Name of Sharon's new party resembles Mussolini slogan By Mazal Mualem and David Ratner, Haaretz Correspondents Shinui Chairman Yosef Lapid said Thursday evening that had Prime Minister Ariel Sharon consulted with him, he would have urged him to change the name the latter chose for his new political party. Speaking at a Shinui council meeting, Lapid said that the name "Kadima" (Hebrew for forward) should be changed because it is similar to the Avanti slogan used by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The Shinui members who met Thursday did not set a date for primaries...

Nov. 24, 2005 18:47 | Updated Nov. 24, 2005 21:25 Low turnout mars Sharon-less Likud committee event By GIL HOFFMAN The Likud central committee convenes Minister without portfolio Tzahi Hanegbi Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski The first Likud central committee meeting without Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was intended to be a showcase of party unity in the post-Sharon era, but instead it will be remembered for its low turnout. When the event was supposed to start at 5 p.m., the room was nearly empty. It started an hour late and finished shortly thereafter. Organizers said after the event that 911 central committee...

Nov. 24, 2005 0:49 | Updated Nov. 24, 2005 14:33 Braverman joins Labor, not Kadima By GIL HOFFMAN AND SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL Ben Gurion University President, Professor Avishay Braverman Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski Ben Gurion University President Avishay Braverman announced Thursday his enlistment in the Labor Party, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who sought to enlist him to his new party. The move was announced at a joint press conference conducted together with Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz. While Prof. Braverman officially joined the party, no prospective position was mentioned. Braverman and Peretz publicly exchanged kind words. The...

PM's party looking to expand Sharon’s party negotiating with 5 MKs Sources say Sharon’s new party negotiating with five Knesset Members in bid to add them to list of 13 others who have already joined in past few days, say Sharon in high spirits since recent split from Likud; ‘He is pleased with the number of MKs he has been able to recruit,’ a source says Ronny Sofer In high spirits. Sharon Photo: Reuters Tasked with choosing name for new party. Arad Photo:Tzvika TishlerPrime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new party is negotiating with five Knesset Members in a bid to...

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is set to quit his ruling Likud party and run separately in next year's elections, Israeli army radio reports. r Sharon reportedly made the decision to leave the party he helped to found after lengthy talks with aides. Earlier, the moderate Labour party under new leader Amir Peretz voted to leave Mr Sharon's coalition. Many in Likud opposed Mr Sharon's decision to pull out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank earlier this year.

Nov. 16, 2005 8:24 | Updated Nov. 16, 2005 19:39 New poll finds Sharon has 30% lead over Netanyahu By GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST STAFFPrime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sunday's cabinet meeting. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski If Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering whether to split the Likud and form a new party, he may want to draw his attention to a recent poll that found that he would defeat his main challenger, MK Binyamin Netanyahu, by over 30 percent. The poll, which was commissioned by Channel 10 and conducted among Likud voters, found that nearly 49% would vote for Sharon,...

While the threat level has decreased since disengagement, there are still far-right activists in the midst of planning attacks against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon or the Temple Mount and are currently on the Shin Bet's watch list, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra has told The Jerusalem Post. “Security around Sharon is tight for a reason,” Ezra told The Post in an interview coinciding with the holiday season. “There were attacks against Palestinians before the pullout [from the Gaza Strip] and even though they were not against Sharon they were of the same mold.” “There are crazy people out there and...

Sep. 23, 2005 0:30 | Updated Sep. 23, 2005 6:05 PM sees vote against him as 'tantamount to impeachment' By TOVAH LAZAROFF AND JPOST STAFF Prime Minister Ariel Sharon considers a loss of support within the Likud Central Committee over the impending leadership race as being "tantamount to political impeachment," one of Sharon's top political aides told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. It is unlikely that Sharon will remain in the Likud if he loses its support this Monday, said the aide, Eyal Arad, and if he does leave he may create a new party. Such an eventuality was not...

Mofaz to Bibi: You’ll destroy Likud Defense Minister calls on Likud Central Committee members to reject Netanyahu’s initiative to bring the party’s primary elections forward, says, ‘Bibi, if your battle (to push up the primaries) succeeds, you will be remembered as the person who destroyed Likud’ Attila Somfalvi Says Bibi hurt Likud voters. Mofaz Photo: Tzafrir Aviyov Defense minister attacked his economic policy. Netanyahu Photo: Hagai Aharon Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Thursday on Likud Central Committee members to reject the proposal to bring the party’s primary elections forward. Mofaz, who spoke during a New Year’s toast, launched a scathing...