Ariel Sharon’s condition critical with danger to life

Ariel Sharon’s condition is now critical, “with some danger to life”, his doctors have said.

Former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, 85, has been in a coma since January 4, 2006.

He is suffering from a malfunction of several organs including the kidneys, they said.

Ariel Sharon became prime minister in 2001 and suffered a mild stroke in 2005.

After a second, major stroke in 2006, he went into a coma and has been in a persistent vegetative state ever since.

Giving the first official medical statement on the current situation, Professor Zeev Rotstein of Tel Hashomer hospital, said: “I am no prophet, but the feeling of his doctors and his sons… is that there has been a change for the worse.

“We are defining his condition as critical, and there is definitely a threat to his life. The feeling of everyone… is that this decline is very serious.”

Ariel Sharon’s family is at his bedside. One of his sons, Omri, told the Jerusalem Post: “We have hope, we always have hope.”

Having fought in all of Israel’s wars since the state’s founding in 1948, Ariel Sharon is admired by many Israelis as a great military leader, but is reviled by Palestinians.