Sharon: The Life of a Leader

Israeli columnist Sharon draws on a unique set of family and documentary sources (including personal diaries) to tell the story of his father, one of Israel's great political and military leaders. Born in 1928 and struck down in early 2006 while working on Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, Sharon's life and battles paralleled those of his country. He was close to David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister, who supported his military career in the 1950s, and to the eventual Oslo accord peace-maker Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister after the 1973 war, under whom Sharon served as security adviser. In 1977, he helped found the Likud Party to break the political mold of Israeli politics, and was prepared to launch such an effort again in 2006 with Kadima. His blunt views of the Israeli political and military leaders with whom he served make for surprising reading, and his disagreements with Israel's political command receive attention here. The biography vividly delineates the qualities a leader needs to excel today. (Oct.)