Ariel Sharon - Biography Chapters

1975 – 1977 A Rookie Politician

At the beginning of 1975, after a frustrating period as a Likud Knesset Member in the opposition, Sharon leaves the Likud and goes back to the army as a reserve commander. He prepares a plan for the deployment of IDF forces between Israel and Egypt, but Chief of Staff Mordechai Gur (Motta) prefers another plan that was prepared in the General Headquarters and Sharon is asked to brief the division

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commanders in Sinai according to latter. During a briefing seminar to the division commanders, Sharon introduces the General Headquarters' plan as such that "only and idiot could design" and goes on to brief them according to his own plan. That very day Sharon receives an order from the Head of the Southern Command to terminate the briefing seminar. Several weeks later, the division commanders were briefed by another officer according to the General Headquarters' plan.

On June 1975, Sharon crosses the political lines, and serves as a special advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, of the Labor Party. In this capacity, Sharon recommends attacking the Syrians for advancing their forces in Lebanon past what was marked by the Israeli government as a red line. Chief of Staff Gur prefers to try diplomacy first. After the United States intervenes and informs Syria of Israel's demand, Syria retreats its forces.

As an advisor to Prime Minister Rabin, Sharon prepares a plan to change the Electoral System and Government System in Israel. His main ideas are to implement a direct voting system and to give more power to the Prime Minister.

Eight months later Sharon hands Rabin his resignation since his promotion is blocked due to bad relations between Prime Minister Rabin and Defense Minister Shimon Peres.

As of March 1976, Sharon tries to find his way back to politics. Senior members of the Liberal Party, to which Sharon joined prior to the Yom Kippur War, refuse to have him back.

A few months later, Sharon holds a press conference and announces the establishment of a new party named Shlomzion. He declares that his party will promote what is known as the Jordanian Option to the Palestinian issue – namely, transferring the West Bank and Gaza to Jordanian responsibility. Sharon introduces his new party as a cure to the decadence and corruption of old parties and says that he does not believe in loyalty to a party that has become void of meaning. He states that if a true concept is not being fulfilled in a certain political framework, one has to strive to fulfill it in a different framework.

During the election year, Sharon tries to recruit the left winged Yossi Sarid, and later to merge Shlomzion with center parties. These attempts fail even though Sharon expresses willingness to accept political stances which are relatively far from those he initially introduced, in terms of Israel's future borders.

Two months before Election Day, Sharon fears defeat. He tries to go back to the Likud. Likud Chairman, Menachem Begin, supports this move and the two parties hold negotiations as to what positions Sharon's party members would get in the Likud. The negotiations fail. At the last moment, before the Likud submits its list of candidates to the Election Committee, Sharon backs off and accepts the Likud terms, according to which Sharon would be number six in the Likud list, and other Shlomzion members would get unrealistic positions. But Sharon's consent arrives too late. Simcha Erlich, head of the Liberal division in the Likud, is adamant to block the joining of Sharon to the Likud. Menachem Begin tries to persuade him, but to no avail.

On the summer of 1977 the great Mahapach (political upheaval) takes place: the Likud defeats the ruling Labor Party by a landslide and gets 43 seats in the Knesset. Menachem Begin, the new man in power, sees the occupied territories of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip, as liberated territories and as an integral part of the Land of Israel.
Begin invites Sharon to join the Likud and appoints him Agriculture Minister and Head of the Ministers Committee for Settlement.