To the citizens of Israel, I say: we have passed difficult years, faced the most painful experiences and overcame them. The future lies before us. We are required to take difficult and controversial steps, but we must not miss the opportunity to try to achieve what we have wished for, for so many years: security, tranquillity and peace.

Sharon ordered the rest of his troops to attack in order to aid their comrades. Following Sharon's incapacitation Ehud Olmert replaced Sharon as Kadima's leader for the nearing general elections. Communications Minister who admitted months after Sharon's visit that the violence had been planned in July far in advance of Sharon's visit stating the intifada "was carefully planned since the return of (Palestinian President) Yasser Arafat from Camp David negotiations rejecting the U.

In 2013 tests showed "robust activity" in his brain in response to pictures of his family and recordings of his son's voice. His stroke occurred a few months before he had been expected to win a new election on what Matt Rees and Rafi Eitan have described as "clearing Israel out of most of the West Bank" in a planned unilateral withdrawal. During his military career he was considered the greatest field commander in Israel's history and one of the country's greatest ever military strategists.