The end of an era
In November, Ariel Sharon broke away from his ruling Likud Party to form the Kadima, which was tipped to win the general election slated for March 28. But the new party's fate depends totally on Sharon's survival.
His deputy, former Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, lacks the skills needed to pull together a ruling coalition, and is likely to be challenged by veteran leaders like Shimon Peres.
Image: September 28, 2000, Ariel Sharon, flanked by security guards, visits the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City. This controversial visit to the Haram al-Sharif, Islam's third holiest site, also revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, triggered the second intifada.
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