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Essay on Modern Israeli Society
Elections in Israel were due on March 28, 2006 and two months before an election that made it clear that Ariel Sharon would again come to power at the head of an extensive centrist movement, Israel’s political system struggled to adjust to the sudden incapacitation of a prime minister who had become something of a father figure to the nation. Sharon remained in critical condition Thursday morning following eight hours of surgery to drain a cerebral hemorrhage caused by a massive stroke Wednesday evening. He was to remain in heavy sedation and on a respirator for another 24 hours.
Doctors remained watched over about the prediction for the 77-year-old leader, but the stroke-Sharon second within three weeks-seemed likely to end the political career of a man who had outgrown his past as a polarizing figure to unite a broad swath of the public behind his plan to separate Israel from the Palestinians and set the country’s final borders.
Life after Ariel Sharon
When Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced two months ago that he was leaving the right-wing Likud Party, which he had personified for three decades, one thing seemed certain: his new centrist party, Kadima, would be far more about one man and that was himself and his own one man show.
It's possible that this could even have worked for a time. Mr. Sharon struck such a powerful chord with the Israelis' craving for security and stability that he might well have been able to coerce his people into the future as he saw it. But Mr. Sharon's massive second stroke means that both Kadima and what passes for the Israeli political center must now find a political vision that revolves around more than just Ariel Sharon. (January 6, 2006)With Mr. Sharon not expected to return to the political scene, the Israeli people could still have three clear choices......
