losing his final battle and near death Thursday, January 5, after suffering a massive stroke, officials said.
Following seven hours of surgery, doctors managed to stop bleeding in his brain, but the director of the Hadassah-Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, cautioned Sharon would remain in an induced coma on a respirator to "recover from severe trauma," for at least 48 hours.
He said the treatment would decrease pressure in the prime minister’s skull. After the sedation period, doctors hope to gradually waken the prime minister. Dr. Mor-Yosef said Sharon’s pupils were responding to stimulation an apparent sign of independent brain activity. Sharon, 77, was rushed to the hospital late Wednesday, January 4, 2 1/2 weeks after suffering a first stroke.
Doctors not involved in the surgery procedures told media however that the prognosis did not look good for the 77-year old Sharon and that the chances of him dying were high.
Two Arab TV channels prematurely reported that Sharon had died Thursday, January 5, as Arab media competed with each other in coverage of the hospital condition of the Israeli leader. The reports by Lebanon’s Future Television and Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Television were not confirmed by the hospital in Jerusalem, where Sharon was being treated, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. The channels went back to reporting the latest medical bulletins on the ailing prime minister.
EMPTY SEAT
Vice Premier Ehud Olmert was named acting prime minister and convened the Cabinet for a special session with Sharon’s large chair at the center of the long oval table seat, empty.
"At this time, we are all praying and full of hope for the prime minister’s quick recovery,"he said in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife.
"We are all closely monitoring developments in these difficult hours and our eyes, and those of the entire world, are directed towards the hospital in the hope of seeing the prime minister, who has been in so many previous battles, emerging from this battle as well and taking his seat here," he added.
CHRISTIANS PRAYING
As more details emerged about his health, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), a Christian organization supporting Israel, urged its supporters to pray.
"Latest news reports indicate that Israel’s Prime Minister remains in a critical condition in Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital following a major stroke and brain hemorrhage late last night…Clearly, the nation is in a state of shock," said ICEJ Executive Director Malcolm Hedding.
"For all those that love Israel, this is a time of urgent prayer both for Mr. Sharon and the nation as a whole," he added in a statement monitored by BosNewsLife. "Please join with us in praying that God’s Kingdom will come and His Will be done at this critical hour."
RE-ELECTION DOUBTS
The health emergency injected uncertainty into Israel’s March 28 election, in which Sharon’s moderate Kadima Party has been the front-runner.
Sharon had been expected to easily win re-election during the upcoming ballot as the head of the Kadima Party he created to free his hands for further peace moves with the Palestinians in the framework of the "road map” for Middle East peace.
But doctors and close Sharon associates warned they did not expect him to return to office. ICEJ’s Hedding said Israel was in turmoil.
"In recent years Ariel Sharon has totally dominated the Israeli political scene. His recent decision to breakaway from the governing Likud party and his sudden hospitalization have left Israel in turmoil. Most observers believe that even if Mr. Sharon recovers, his political career is over," he explained.
MAJOR BLOW
That came as a major blow for his supporters at a time when opinion polls show many Israelis see Israel’s 11th prime minister, who was installed in March 2001, as a hero of both the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars and as someone who never shied from controversy.
It was his decision that led to the Israeli withdrawal form the Gaza Strip, but at the same time commentators claim it was his visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 that sparked the second Palestinian uprising or ‘intifada’.
There was anxiety however around the world on Thursday over the future direction of Israel and the conflict with the Palestinians, with Arab media expressing especially concern. While Palestinian newspapers l-Quds and Al-Ayyam reported Sharon to be close to death, Lebanon’s As-Safir newspaper wrote that "Israel is on the brink of political strife," the French news agency, Agency France Presse (AFP) monitored from the region.
PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei said in a letter sent to Israel’s acting premier Ehud Olmert that "our thoughts and prayers are with Prime Minister Sharon, the Israeli government and people. We wish the prime minister a full and quick recovery."
Some Israeli newspapers saw the end of Sharon’s rule, whether he survived or not. "One can cautiously say that it appears that the era in which Sharon stood at Israel’s helm came to a tragic end on Wednesday," wrote a columnist for the Haaretz newspaper, Aluf Benn.
Sharon’s fiercest enemy, the Palestinian militant group Hamas, reportedly welcomed the news about Sharon’s health problems. Its spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP, that the Middle East "will be a better place without Sharon. The world is on the verge of being rid of one of its worst leaders." He added that "Sharon’s fate is divine intervention reserved for despots and evil-doers."
WORLD LEADERS CONCERNED
However several world leaders, including those supporting the fragile peace process, were worried with some praying for him.
United States President George W. Bush, a self declared "born-again" Christian said he and his wife, Laura, "share the concerns of the Israeli people about Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s health, and we are praying for his recovery."
Prime Minister Sharon, he said, "is a man of courage and peace. On behalf of all Americans, we send our best wishes and hopes to the prime minister and his family."
EU WATCHING
The European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana was "following developments closely and we can only wish the prime minister the best," said his Spokeswoman Cristina Gallach.
French President Jacques Chirac — who himself suffered what was believed to have been a minor stroke last September — said Thursday, January 5, that "all my wishes and all my thoughts" were with Sharon.
He said he wanted to see continued, "the courageous initiatives started by Mr Sharon that have already won approval from he entire international community," AFP reported.
RUSSIA’S SYMPATHIES
In Moscow, the Kremlin reportedly said, "President Putin, via Russia’s ambassador in Israel, expressed his sincere sympathies to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and wished him the speediest recovery."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been unremittingly hostile to Israel, made no direct mention of Sharon’s medical emergency but did launch a verbal attack on Western support of his rule.
"Be sure that not only the Palestinian people, but also all Islamic nations will not even for a moment tolerate this occupying regime and corrupt government empowered by you," AFP quoted him as telling Western nations. (With reports from Israel, the United States, Europe and the Middle East).
