Sharon's Condition Worsens

Jan. 3, 2014 6:54 a.m. ETJERUSALEM—Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s already critical medical condition is deteriorating further as key bodily organs continue to decline, the hospital treating him said Friday.

Ariel Sharon pauses during the weekly cabinet meeting in his Jerusalem office on Jan. 30, 2005. Associated Press

The 85-year-old Mr. Sharon, who has been in a coma for eight years after a devastating stroke incapacitated him at the peak of his political power, is fighting and isn’t in pain, said Dr. Zeev Rotstein, the director of Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv.
Mr. Sharon is one of Israel’s most iconic and controversial figures and his career stretched across Israel’s 65-year history.
Speaking to reporters Friday at the hospital, Dr. Rotstein said Mr. Sharon’s life remains in danger and that “there is a slow and gradual deterioration” in his condition along with “multi-organ failure.”
Test results show Mr. Sharon also has a blood infection, Dr. Rotstein said.
The director refused to provide a prognosis but when asked if Mr. Sharon will recover, “looking at the trend of deterioration, it doesn’t give us good signs for the future.”
Mr. Sharon’s family was by his bedside, Dr. Rotstein said.
Referring to Mr. Sharon by his nickname “Arik,” Dr. Rotstein said Mr. Sharon “is fighting like a real fighter, as he did all his life.”
As one of Israel’s most famous generals, Mr. Sharon was known for bold tactics and an occasional refusal to obey orders.
Mr. Sharon is credited with helping turn the tide of the 1973 Mideast war when Arab armies launched a surprise attack on Israel on the solemn fasting day of Yom Kippur, causing large Israeli casualties. He led an Israeli force across the Suez Canal, trapping part of the Egyptian army and turning the war in Israel’s favor.
As a politician, he became known as “the bulldozer”—a man contemptuous of his critics while also capable of getting things done. He was elected prime minister in 2001.
In mid-2005, he directed a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, ending 38 years of military control of the territory. It was a shocking turnaround for a man who had been a leading player in building Jewish settlements in captured territories.
He later bolted from his hard-line Likud Party and established the centrist Kadima Party. It seemed he was on his way to an easy re-election when he suffered the stroke in Jan. 2006.
After spending months in the Jerusalem hospital where he was initially treated, Mr. Sharon was transferred to the long-term care facility at Tel Hashomer hospital. He was taken home briefly at one point but was returned several days later to the hospital, where he has been since.

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