The Bulldozer
Born Ariel Sheinerman in a village in the then British mandate of Palestine to parents who later changed the family name to Sharon, young Ariel joined the underground Jewish defence force in his early teens. He was soon nicknamed the 'bulldozer' for his reckless disregard and contempt towards authority.
Badly wounded in the 1948 war for independence, he joined Israeli military intelligence after the country's creation and soon led an elite force, which conducted reprisal raids in the neighboring Arab nations.
Image: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greets Ariel Sharon during their meeting on February 8, 2005 at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Also See: A Historic Visit