General Sharon is credited more than once with quite literally saving Israel from physical destruction during the heat of war.
After the Six Day War Sharon led his troops to put down what would have been an intifada in Gaza, using brute force to instill "the Fear of G-d" in the Arabs. The result was that the Arabs knew resistance was futile and remained pacified.
Sharon also was one of the foremost advocates for the settling by Jews of the Golan, Gaza, Judaea and Samaria, insisting that the lands must be inhabited by Jews for the sake of Israel's national security. Perhaps his motivations for this were more defensive than nationalistic, but the results served both causes.
It was Sharon, who disobeying orders, and ignoring his superiors, told his men to "follow me" and then surrounded the entire Egyptian Army as well as crossed the Suez Canal into Egyptian territory.
He has carried throughout his career the reputation as a "bull in a china shop", an uncontrollable rogue brilliant in war but lacking sound judgement particularly in regard to civilian leadership.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe was asked by Sharon for his thoughts on his entering the political arena, and the reply he received was that he should stay in the military where he best served.
After his election to the position of Israel's Prime Minister, he notedly remarked that he realized what his predecessors had told him; that Israel and the world were perceived differently once one held the reigns of political power.
Unlike many other early Zionists, Sharon was actually born there to Zionist pioneering parents.
More often than not, great men who have shaped history have complex personalities and more than a few negative attributes detracting from their accomplishments.
Whatever else can be said about him, Ariel Sharon stood out among world leaders as a formidable figure who experienced more of life than most of us ever will.
One thing is for certain, and that is there appears no remaining 'formidable figures' among the remaining "first generation" of the Zionist Leadership, and Israel sure could stand to have another batch of Generals capable of disregarding orders while crushing all enemies under a brutal fist.
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Topic: Is Ariel Sharon a Nazi? (Read 5834 times)