said they would change that Monday amid signs of "continues improvement" in the condition of the veteran politician who suffered a massive stroke.
The director of Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein-Kerem Hospital, Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, told reporters that the 77-year-old Sharon underwent another brain scan and that a team of experts decided to "reduce the anesthesia from tomorrow," Monday January 9.
Although that procedure was anticipated earlier on Sunday, January, 8, the news was seen as remarkable as Sharon has been near death after three surgeries in recent days to stop bleeding in the brain.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who already chaired a cabinet session and has pledged to continue Sharon’s policies, closely monitored the situation.
Doctors and his aids have already suggested that they do not expect Sharon to return to power as his ability to speak and reason was likely damaged.
SURVIVAL CHANCES "HIGH"
One of his surgeon’s, Dr. Jose Cohen told Channel 2 TV late Saturday, January 7, that he was "quite optimistic" about Sharon’s prospects for survival, which he said were "very high now."
But he also cautioned that "to say that after such a severe trauma as this that there will be no cognitive problems is simply not to recognize the reality." Throughout Israel, synagogues held special prayers for Sharon.
"We pray, may it be the will of our Father in heaven, that God will send His mercy to Ariel Sharon, to his family and to all those who are caring for him in this hour of great distress," he said. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), a Christian group supporting Israel, had earlier urged churches and Christians to pray for Sharon.
PEACE PROCESS
Before his collapse, Sharon was expected to win a third term in office at the head of Kadima, a new moderate party aimed at reviving the peace process following Sharon’s decision to withdraw soldiers and settlers from the Gaza Strip.
Although Israel and the Palestinians have not managed to use the withdrawal as a springboard for the immediate resumption of stalled peace talks, there was hope that the process would resume after Palestinian elections in January and Israel’s ballot in March. (With reports from Israel).
