SHIKMIM, Israel (WJC) – Former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for nearly five years, has been brought to his farm in the Negev for the first time since his massive strokes in January 2006. A large police force was involved in the drive down to Sharon’s Shikmim (Sycamore) Ranch.
The 82-year-old was in intensive care at the Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. If Sharon’s family and hired care-takers are able to keep him stable at the ranch over several visits, he would remain there, a hospital spokeswoman was quoted by the ‘Jerusalem Post’ as saying.
Prime Minister Sharon went into a coma at the Hadassah Hospital near Jerusalem in January 2006 and has since been in a permanent vegetative state, with no hope of recovery. The family has reportedly purchased the necessary equipment for the farm in order to monitor and maintain his condition around the clock. A friend of the Sharon family told the ‘Jerusalem Post’ that most of the time, Sharon breathes on his own but is sometimes hooked up to an oxygen balloon.
Sharon served as a commander in the Israeli Army since its inception in 1948. He participated in the 1948 War of Independence, the 1956 Suez War, the 1967 Six-Day War, and the 1973 Yom-Kippur War. After retiring from the IDF, Sharon joined the Likud party and served in a number of ministerial posts in Likud-led governments between 1977 and 1992 and from 1996 to 1999. He became the leader of the Likud in 2000, and served as Israel’s prime minister from 2001 to 2006, during which time he notably pushed through Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A few months before falling into a coma, Sharon left the Likud to form the centrist Kadima party, which later in 2006 won the parliamentary election.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress