Ariel Sharon (1928-2014)

Gallery: FILE - In this Sunday May 16, 2004 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pauses during a news conference in his Jerusalem office regarding education reform. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago.

Gallery: FILE -- Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel in Jerusalem in 2003. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE - In this file photo taken Monday, Dec. 5, 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks at the Israel Business Conference in Tel Aviv. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago.

Gallery: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (C) waves to his Likud party in Tel Aviv, August 18, 2004. Sharon fought on Wednesday to avoid an embarrassing defeat in a Likud Party vote by rebels opposed to his plan to withdraw from the occupied Gaza Strip. Violence has surged in Gaza in anticipation of a U.S.-backed pullout and five Palestinians were killed Wednesday in a failed Israeli attempt to assassinate a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Gallery: Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pictured in this 2001 file photo in the West Bank, comatose since a 2006 stroke, slipped closer to death on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2014, with his ''vital organs'' failing and a sharp decline in his condition, according to hospital officials.

Gallery: FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, speaks with second vice premier and Labor party leader Shimon Peres prior to a session in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, for the budget vote, in Jerusalem. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago.

Gallery: FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 5, 2004 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon speaks during a meeting of the central committee of his right-wing Likud party in Tel Aviv. The son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says his father has died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago. His son Gilad Sharon said: "He has gone. He went when he decided to go."

Gallery: FILE -- Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel in Jerusalem in 2005. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE - In this Monday, April 26, 2004 file photo, Marking Israeli Memorial Day, Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon greets family members of terror victims, after a memorial ceremony for Israeli civilians who have been killed since Israel's founding 56 years ago, at Mt. Herzl Cemetery, in Jerusalem. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE - In this Tuesday Dec. 27, 2005 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon takes part in the lighting of the fourth Hanukkah candle, at his Jerusalem office. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pictured in this 2004 file photo in Tel Aviv, comatose since a 2006 stroke, slipped closer to death on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2014, with his ''vital organs'' failing and a sharp decline in his condition, according to hospital officials.

Gallery: Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon places his hand on the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, in the Old City of Jerusalem 07 February 2001. It was Sharon's first public appearance the day after his landslide 25-point election win over incumbent premier Ehud Barak , who made the same visit the day after he defeated Benjamin Netanyahu just 21 months ago.

Gallery: FILE -- Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel in Jerusalem in 2005. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE -- From left: President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah during a summit between the Israelis and Palestinians hosted by Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on Feb. 8, 2005. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: In this handout picture from the Israeli Government Press Office, President Bush discusses the Middle East peace process with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, right, in Aqaba, Jordan, Wednesday, June 4, 2003.

Gallery: FILE -- President George W. Bush looks on as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, right, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas turned to shake hands after a summit in Aqaba, Jordan in June 2003. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: ** ALERTNATE CROP ** Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, right, and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, left, shake hands watched by U.S. President George W. Bush after their closing statements to the media following their summit meeting at the Royal Palace in Aqaba, Jordan, Wednesday June 4, 2003.

Gallery: FILE - In this Wednesday, April 14, 2004 file photo, President Bush, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, left, walk together at the end of a joint press conference in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington. The son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says his father has died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago. His son Gilad Sharon said: "He has gone. He went when he decided to go."

Gallery: FILE -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,left and President George W. Bush walk by reporters in the Rose Garden after a meeting at the White House in Washington, July 29, 2003. Sharon, who later rose to serve as Israel's prime minister, died on Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, right, shakes hands with Palestinian leader Mahmood Abbas following their meeting in Jerusalem in 2003. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gestures during a convention of his Likud party in Tel Aviv, August 18, 2004. Sharon fought on Wednesday to avoid an embarrassing defeat in a Likud Party vote by rebels opposed to his plan to withdraw from the occupied Gaza Strip. Violence has surged in Gaza in anticipation of a U.S.-backed pullout and five Palestinians were killed Wednesday in a failed Israeli attempt to assassinate a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Gallery: FILE -- Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, left, shake hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the beginning of their meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Feb. 8, 2005. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had been comatose for nearly eight years, died on Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE -- Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, left, meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, February 8, 2005. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had been comatose for nearly eight years, died on Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: Israel's Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon smiles as he prepares to leave the Western Wall Plaza, Judaism's holiest site, in east Jerusalem's Old City, Wednesday Feb. 7, 2001. Following Tuesday's election victory Sharon faces a difficult task in forming a government that has the support of the fractured parliament.

Gallery: FILE -- Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, right, tours the advancing Israeli Army units near Beirut in 1982 in this Israeli Defense Ministry photo. Sharon, who was both vilified and admired for his belief that Jews must assert and defend their collective needs without embarrassment or fear of censure, died in a hospital outside Tel Aviv on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE -- In this Israeli Defense Ministry photo, Defense Minister Ariel Sharon points to a map of Lebanon during a press briefing in Tel Aviv in 1982. Sharon, who later rose to serve as Israel's prime minister, died on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE - In this Oct. 23, 1973 file photo, Israeli Major General Ariel Sharon, who commands Israeli units operating in the Egyptian west bank of the Suez canal, smiles with an Egyptian farmer in an unidentified village near Ismailia in Egypt. Sharon, the hard-charging Israeli general and prime minister who was admired and hated for his battlefield exploits and ambitions to reshape the Middle East, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. The 85-year-old Sharon had been in a coma since a debilitating stroke eight years ago.

Gallery: FILE -- In this Israeli Defense Ministry photo, Gen. Ariel Sharon, right, meets with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan after Sharon led his troops across the Suez Canal in Egypt during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Sharon, who later rose to serve as Israel's prime minister, died on Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: In a handout photo, Israeli Major General Ariel Sharon, right, looks over a map with Haim Bar-Lev in the Sinai desert, Oct. 10, 1973. Sharon, who later rose to serve as Israel's prime minister, died on Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.

Gallery: FILE -- In this Israeli Defense Ministry photo, Ariel Sharon holds a gun as a young commander in the Alexandroni Brigade of the fledging Israeli Army in 1948. Sharon, who later rose to serve as Israel's prime minister, died Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014. He was 85.