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‘Bulldozer Sharon’ Deals ‘Indecisive Netanyahu’ New Knockout
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| Sharon, left, defeated charismatic Netanyahu |
By
Yasser el-Banna & Falah el-Safady, IOL Correspondents
TEL AVIV, November 29 (IslamOnline) - Ariel Sharon, who trounced his
rival Benjamin Netanyahu in the primary elections for the right-wing
Likud party Thursday, November 28, reshaped his domestic image from a
hard-nosed warrior to clever tactician and "responsible
statesman", in his own words.
By winning the Likud primaries with a wide margin over his Foreign
Minister and former Premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon now leads the
Israeli political pack.
Born
in 1928 in the then British-governed Palestine of parents of central
European origin, Sharon joined the Jewish gangs in 1945, participated
in evacuating the Arab residents out of their cities and villages,
through massacres and assaults.
Sharon
studied History and Eastern Sciences in 1953 in the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem. He also had a Law Degree from Tel Aviv University in
1962. He speaks Hebrew, English, and Russian.
The
hawkish Israeli Premier participated in Palestine's first war in 1948,
was appointed a brigade's leader in 1949, then an intelligence officer
in 1951. During his university studies, he was appointed leader of
Unit 101, formed to carry out operations against Arab resistance
activists.
In
1954, Sharon led the Israeli forces that committed the massacre of
Qabya village, destroyed houses with inhabitants inside In 1956, he
led a Parachutes’ Unit and participated in the Sinai War. He was
promoted to the rank of General in 1969, quit the army in 1973 to run
for parliament.
His beloved second wife, Lily, died of cancer in March 2000 after 37
years of marriage. She was the sister of his first wife, Margalit, who
was killed in a car crash. One of his three sons died in a shooting
accident.
Throughout
his military career, Sharon showed a taste for rapid action, leading
an armored division that tried to take Egyptian forces from behind in
the 1973 October War. He also showed an inclination to set his own
rules despite critics of his tactics, which often left a large body
count.
He
entered politics in 1973, but quit parliament for a year to serve as
security advisor to then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was later
assassinated by a Jewish extremist.
Back
in parliament from 1977, Sharon also held a variety of cabinet posts
but was such a feisty, independent spirit that even government
colleagues were often stunned by his behavior.
"He wouldn't hesitate to send tanks to attack me in the prime
minister's office," former leader Menachem Begin once said.
Sharon,
who said just a few months ago he regretted not killing arch-foe
Yasser Arafat in 1982, now insists he has no intention of harming the
ageing Palestinian leader and even acknowledges a de facto Palestinian
state already exists.
Hated in the Arab world, he may be showing a more dovish face, but
commentators argue it is only political tactics aimed at filling a
vacuum left by Netanyahu, who tried to stalk him on the far-right.
On
the other hand, three years after being ousted from Israel's top job,
Benjamin Netanyahu stormed back on the political scene with a tougher
stance than ever, choosing to challenge Sharon on his own turf.
Netanyahu's charisma could have been enough to beat the dovish new
Labor leader Amram Mitzna in the January 28 legislative elections, but
not to defeat the former general, who has surprised many by showing he
had grown out of his image of hard-nosed warrior into a fine
tactician.
"Bibi," the tough-talking darling of the right, has been a
constant thorn in Sharon's side and made no secret of his wish to
steal the Premier's job, but his flamboyant media-savvy style has
failed to win the support of Likud's 300,000 cardholders.
Netanyahu, 53, accepted at the beginning of the month a surprise
proposal by Sharon to take the Foreign Ministry and replace Shimon
Peres, whose Labor party pulled out of the national unity government.
He hoped the move would give him a platform in the electoral run-up,
but his new position in the government reduced his room to maneuver
and crippled a campaign originally designed to be an aggressive attack
on Sharon's mixed performance during the Palestinian Intifada.
After failing to make an impact by focusing on the country's
worst-ever economic crisis and advocating ultra-liberal policies, the
former Prime Minister reverted to the core of the political debate.
He adopted harder positions than ever on the Palestinian issue, but as
Netanyahu spectacularly swerved to the far-right, Sharon happily moved
in to occupy the vacuum and further gnawed at the centre and left-wing
electorate.
A loner with few close friends in Israel's political establishment,
Netanyahu's flawless English, media savoir-faire and hard line
pedigree have earned him a leading spot in the nation's right-wing
pantheon.
His reputation survived his 1996-1999 Premiership, when he abandoned
pre-election pledges not to respect the 1993 Oslo peace accords and
signed the Wye River accords with Arafat, turning over chunks of the
West Bank to Palestinian control.
After shaking the hand of Arafat - which Sharon refused to do - in
1998, Netanyahu based his entire campaign on the expulsion of the
veteran Palestinian leader and claims to be "the only one to
oppose a Palestinian state".
His father Bentzion, a history professor who worked under Zionist
revisionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky, was regarded as a right-wing
in the Labor-dominated Israel of the time that he was forced to find a
university post in the United States, where his sons were educated.
Before attending the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, the young Benjamin served in an Israeli army commando
unit, took part in several operations and was wounded. He left the
service with the rank of captain.
Netanyahu was deeply affected by the death of his elder brother
Jonathan, killed leading the 1976 Israeli commando raid on an Air
France plane hijacked by Palestinians to Entebbe, Uganda.
Following his brother's death, Netanyahu became fascinated with
terrorism, penning three books on the subject, from his own point of
view.
His career took off when he was asked to join Israel's Embassy in
Washington after shining at an anti-terror conference he organized in
Jerusalem in 1982.
Only two years later, Netanyahu was appointed Israel's Ambassador to
the United Nations.
Returning to Israel in 1988, he was elected to the Jewish state's
parliament on the right-wing Likud's ticket. He became Likud leader
only five years later.
In 1996, he captured the majority of Israeli voters with a promise of
security after four bombings that killed 58 people in two months.
But in September 1996, Netanyahu - censured at times for being
arrogant and stubborn - overrode security objections and ordered
opening a new entrance to a controversial archeological tunnel near
Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
The move sparked intense violence in the Palestinian territories,
leaving more than 80 dead.
Critics at the time charged that Netanyahu succeeded in killing the
peace process without bringing his vaunted promise of security for
Israel.
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