Ariel Sharon
Major General, 143rd Armored Division
"I've always believed that every Jewish life is worth the whole world."
Biography
Ariel Sharon's crossing of the Suez Canal in the Yom Kippur War was his finest military moment — and it saved Israel. In the first days of the war, Egyptian forces had overwhelmed Israeli defenses and crossed the canal. Sharon's division, fighting savage battles along the Great Bitter Lake, identified a gap between the Egyptian Second and Third Armies. Against orders from his superiors — who wanted to wait — he pushed reconnaissance forces through the gap and secured a bridgehead. He then personally supervised the construction of pontoon bridges under fire, enabling Israeli tanks to cross into Africa and encircle the Egyptian Third Army. The encirclement gave Israel its decisive leverage for the ceasefire negotiation: the trapped army was Sadat's hostage. Sharon's insubordination, his willingness to act without orders, and his results transformed him from a controversial general into a national hero. He later became Prime Minister.
Did you know?
Sharon was wounded in the abdomen during the fighting to secure the crossing point. He continued to command from a vehicle, directing the most audacious Israeli military operation of the war — a crossing of the Suez Canal that encircled the Egyptian Third Army — while bleeding. His subordinates didn't tell Tel Aviv how seriously he was hurt until the crossing was secured.
Key Battles
Crossing of the Suez Canal
Egypt / Syria victoryOctober 6–9, 1973 · 3,000 total casualties
The canal crossing was Egypt's greatest military achievement since Thutmose III. The use of high-pressure water hoses to breach Israeli sand fortifications — a suggestion by a civilian engineer — was a stroke of operational ingenuity. The shock to Israeli military confidence was profound. The myth of Israeli invincibility, born in 1967, died on October 6, 1973.
Battle of the Chinese Farm
Israel victoryOctober 15–17, 1973 · 2,000 total casualties
The Chinese Farm battle enabled the most audacious operation of the war — Israeli forces crossing the Suez Canal into Africa. With the Egyptian Third Army soon encircled, Sadat faced strategic catastrophe. The encirclement forced Egypt to accept a ceasefire despite its initial successes, ultimately leading Sadat to conclude that military means alone could not recover the Sinai and setting him on the path to the Camp David Accords.
Israeli Counter-Crossing — Into Africa
Israel victoryOctober 15–24, 1973 · 4,000 total casualties
The encirclement of the Egyptian Third Army was the war's decisive moment. Egypt's military achievement of October 6 — the greatest Arab military success since 1948 — was answered by a strategic Israeli reversal. Sadat, whose Third Army was on the verge of destruction, accepted a ceasefire. The encirclement gave Kissinger and Nixon the leverage to broker the disengagement agreements that followed, and gave Sadat the justification to pursue peace negotiations from a position of partial honor rather than total defeat.
Life Journey
Timeline
February 26, 1928
🌅 Birth
Born at Kfar Malal, Palestine
June 1967
⚔️ Battle
Commanded division in Sinai — Abu-Ageila assault
October 15–16, 1973
⚔️ Battle
Led Chinese Farm battle; crossed Suez Canal; encircled Egyptian Third Army
March 2001
milestone
Became Prime Minister of Israel
January 4, 2006
milestone
Suffered massive stroke; entered coma for 8 years
January 11, 2014
✝️ Death
Died after 8 years in a coma, age 85