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Ariel Sharon

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World Leader

The Resume

    (February 26, 1928-January 11, 2014)
    Joined Jewish underground resistance movement Haganah as a young man
    Fought in 1948 Arab-Israeli war after establishment of Jewish state
    Rose to rank of Brigadier General in Israeli Army
    Elected to Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 1973
    Resigned a year later to serve as security adviser to Yitzhak Rabin
    Considered the brains behind the invasion of Lebanon in 1982
    Removed from office by tribunal in 1983 after being found indirectly responsible for civilian casualties
    Went on to lead right-wing Likud party in 1999
    Elected to Prime Minister by a landslide on February 6, 2001

Why he might be annoying:

    He became extremely overweight.
    Many believed him to be a horrible leader, and he was hated on both sides.
    Left-wingers believed him to be a warmonger and an obstacle to peace, while many right-wingers saw him as having betrayed the Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza.
    He billed himself as a tough and forceful leader who was strong on terror, but his acts of retaliation were terrorist attacks are often badly carried out, not followed through, and simply beget more violence.
    He was brought up on bribery charges (2004).
    His son Gilad was hired as a 'tourism consultant' by businessman David Appel and received more than a billion dollars for Sharon's campaign fund as payment for downloading a few web sites on Greek tourism in a crooked contribution scheme (2004).
    He traded 400 Arab prisoners of war to terror group Hezbollah in exchange for one Israeli hostage, Elchanan Tenenboim, and three dead soldiers in what was seen as a ridiculously uneven deal. The hostage, Tenenboim, turned out to have faked his own kidnapping with the Hezbollah terrorists in exchange for cash that he used to pay off gambling debts (2004).
    Jewish dissident Noam Federman was locked in a tiny holding cell for six months without being charged with a crime under his government's 'Administrative Detention Law.' His detention was recently renewed and he will be imprisoned for another six months (2004).
    He was one of the most hated men in the world.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was vilified in the press around the world, and seen as Satan in the Arab press.
    Much of the hatred of Sharon was based on anti-Semitism and anti-Israel attitudes in general, rather than real knowledge of his leadership.
    The 'second intifadeh' of Arab terrorism against Israel was sparked in part by his visit to the al-Aqsa mosque, a site which is sacred to both Jews and Muslims.
    His assassination of Sheik Yassin, the founder of the Hamas terrorist organization, was criticized worldwide with a vigor hardly ever drawn by the terrorism itself.
    He was a hero of the 1967 'Six Day War' in which Israel outnumbered 600 to one in land and 40 to one in military size, defeated six Arab nations in six days and captured the territories of Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Credit: Big Papa


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 89 Votes: 53.93% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 57 Votes: 42.11% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 93.75% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 24 Votes: 54.17% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 113 Votes: 53.10% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 106 Votes: 44.34% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 434 Votes: 56.68% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 536 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 196 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 41 Votes: 29.27% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 60 Votes: 43.33% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 66 Votes: 48.48% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 161 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 1491 Votes: 57.88% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 2955 Votes: 68.32% Annoying
    In 2004, Out of 4096 Votes: 70.14% Annoying