This will make for a tense time for many I'm sure.

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was fighting for his life early Thursday after suffering what his doctor called a "significant" stroke.

With Sharon in surgery, under anesthesia and on a respirator, his powers were transferred to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, a key ally who followed Sharon in bolting from the Likud bloc to form a new centrist party and shake up Israeli politics.

Sharon's stroke plunged the country into political uncertainty less than three months before a pivotal election.

Sharon, 77, was taken by ambulance Wednesday night from his home in the Negev Desert, in southern Israel, to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital after complaining of chest pain and weakness, according to his senior adviser, Ra'anan Gissen.

He arrived at the hospital shortly before 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET), said Ron Krumer, a hospital spokesman. Israeli Channel 2 reported Sharon was brought in on a stretcher.

The prime minister was conscious when he arrived at the hospital, Gissen said.

"After that, apparently there was some worsening of the condition," he said.

Doctors sedated Sharon and performed a magnetic resonance imaging scan, Gissen said.

They diagnosed a cerebral hemorrhage, or bleeding of a blood vessel in Sharon's brain, and he was taken into surgery to repair the rupture. The procedure which was expected to take several hours.

Emerging from the hospital during the surgery, Gissen told CNN that "the operation is progressing well. He's in stable condition."

Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon told reporters that after consultations with Olmert and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, the decision was made to transfer Sharon's powers to Olmert when it became clear the prime minister would have to be sedated for treatment.

Olmert and the rest of the Cabinet will meet Thursday at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET), the prime minister's office said.

The stroke was the second suffered by Sharon in less than a month. After the first stroke, on December 18, the prime minister was placed on blood-thinning medication, which can be associated with an increased risk of brain hemorrhage.

Though Sharon briefly experienced difficulty in speaking after the initial stroke, his doctors then predicted he would recover fully.

Sharon's second stroke came after a full day of meetings, though he had trimmed his workload since December 18, Gissin told CNN.

The prime minister had been scheduled to undergo minor surgery Thursday to repair a small hole in his heart, which doctors said contributed to a blood clot that caused the first stroke. (Full story)

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer" for his stamina during meetings and long working hours, the overweight Sharon not been in ill health prior to the initial stroke. He is twice widowed, has two sons and lives alone.

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Kelly

How Do You Live Your Dash?

Check out the Kids' blogs:
The CaleBlog and the Zoe Blog

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

And the ever smart google ads has placed this at the bottom of the page when I read this thread:

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Kelly

How Do You Live Your Dash?

Check out the Kids' blogs:
The CaleBlog and the Zoe Blog

WASHINGTON - The White House sharply criticized Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson on Friday for suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for "dividing God's land."

"Those comments are wholly inappropriate and offensive and really don't have a place in this or any other debate," presidential spokesman Trent Duffy said as Bush traveled to Chicago for a speech.

Robertson made his comments about Israel and Sharon on his TV program, "The 700 Club." He said, "God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"

Sharon, who ordered Israel's withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday.

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I don't get this opportunity very often, so I'm going to relish it. I would like to send thanks and kudos to the Bush White House for stepping up and chastizing Pat Robertson. He needs to hear that he is inappropriate more often from those closer to his circle. Again, I commend the Bush White House for doing what's right on this one. Sorry for the double post.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Evangelical Leaders Criticize Pat Robertson

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Jordan .

Well you may have been vocal Jordan but these groups were not, they were silent (which implied approval).  Better late than never though, it's nice to hear them speaking up now.

I hear they will be trying to wake Sharon up soon.

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Jordan .

"We cannot allow a mine shaft gap"

Jordan .

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson has shunned US evangelical leader Pat Robertson shortly before the two were to sign a major funding deal for the Galilee Christian Heritage Center after Robertson suggested that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was a punishment from God for the Gaza Strip withdrawal, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

"The minister has very strong views on this and cannot accept what was said," Tourism Ministry spokesman Ido Hartuv said. "We reconsidered the deal and realized that we cannot sign with Robertson or anyone who supports his views."

Hartuv stressed that this was an attack on Robertson and his comments rather than a rejection of the evangelical community as a whole, which has become a target group for Israeli tourism in 2006.

Robertson lost favor with the ministry when he said on his popular 700 Club TV show that "God considers the land to be his… For any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away he says, 'No, this is mine.'"

The charismatic broadcaster led a group of evangelical Christians who have agreed to raise more than $50 million to build the Heritage Center on a 14-dunam plot of land on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Hirchson, who has been a close ally of Sharon throughout the disengagement period and was among the first Likud members to defect with him to form Kadima, was scheduled to sign the agreement with Robertson committing the government to provide the land and infrastructure for the project and the evangelicals the funding.

While Hirchson pulled the plug on Robertson, the project is going ahead as planned and looking for alternative avenues of finance.

"Many people are enthusiastic about the project," said Uri Dagul, who voluntarily heads the steering committee overseeing the project. "We initiated the project before Robertson was on board, and we will continue without him."

Dagul did not dismiss the possibility of working with Robertson if the evangelist issued an appropriate apology.

A spokesman for Robertson could not be reached in time for this report. A reaction to the outcry following his comments posted on his Web site Thursday fell short of issuing an apology, attempting to further explain his stance.

The government presented its plans for the heritage center and biblical garden in May saying it expected the center to bring an additional 750,000 visitors to the country annually.

Dagul said that the allocation of land was expected to be complete within the next six weeks, after which a nonprofit organization needed to be registered before it got the go ahead.

Dagul predicted that construction would start in 2007 and that it would take three to four years to complete.

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin