MERIP Primer on the UPRISING IN PALESTINE

Who Is Ariel Sharon?

A retired army general, Ariel Sharon, 72, has been a major figure in Israeli politics for decades. He commanded the infamous Unit 101 that massacred 53 Palestinian civilians at Kibya in 1953. In 1971, he led a systematic campaign to quell opposition in Gaza through massive repression, expulsions, and arrests. He was first elected to the Knesset in 1974 and, as defense minister in 1982, he led the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. An Israeli tribunal found Sharon indirectly responsible for the massacre (by Lebanese militias under Israeli control) of thousands of Palestinian civilians living in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. In the aftermath, he was removed as defense minister but retained a role in the Cabinet as "minister without portfolio."

In the early 1990s, Sharon served as housing minister and promoted a massive construction drive to increase Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 1998, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu named Sharon foreign minister. As current head of the Likud party, Sharon has vociferously criticized Prime Minister Ehud Barak for negotiating with the Palestinians. He maintains a residence in Jerusalem's Old City (draped in an Israeli flag) and his provocative visit to al-Haram al-Sharif on Sept. 28, and the harsh Israeli response to the protests that followed, helped ignite the current uprising.

Sharon became the Likud candidate for prime minister in Israel's planned February 6, 2001 elections when Binyamin Netanyahu withdrew. He currently holds a large lead over Barak in the polls. At a conference in Israel in late December 2000, Sharon discussed the "peace proposals" he might consider as prime minister. According to his comments, the IDF would withdraw from 50 percent of the Occupied Territories, but not to Israel's pre-1967 borders, as mandated by resolution 242. Israel would continue to occupy the Jordan Valley, as a "buffer zone" between the Palestinian entity and Jordan, with which country Israel signed a comprehensive peace treaty in 1994. Settlements, bypass roads and complete Israeli control of crossings between PA-controlled areas and Israel would remain in place. Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees would not be on Sharon's negotiating table.

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