11/01/2014 BBC Weekend News

Good afternoon. In the last half hour, it's been announced that the

former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has died. He was 85 and had

been in a coma since 2006, following a stroke. He was a dominant figure

in both the military and politics in Israel but courted controversy

throughout his long career. James Robbins looks back at his life.

There is flash photography in his report. They called him the

bulldozer, soldier first and politician second, Ariel Sharon

loomed large over 50 years of turbulent Israeli history, a

hardliner who eventually seemed to soften, but could not bring Israel

peace. Ariel Sharon was born into a world of Jewish pioneering zeal.

During Israel's War of Independence he was already in the Army. In 1967,

he led a dramatic night-time attack into Egypt, he's image as a

brilliant tactician was cemented. But there was a dark side, his men

were accused of shooting Egyptian prisoners. In the 1973 war Ariel

Sharon crossed the Suez Canal before being told to go no further. He was

angry. We defeated the Egyptians, he said, but did not win the war. As a

politician he campaigned loudly for Jewish settlers colonising the

occupied territories. As a new government minister his original aim

was to prevent the creation of a future Palestinian state. Then as

Minister of defence in 1982, Sharon led a full-scale invasion of

Lebanon, stated aim to secure Israel's northern border from

terrorist attack, but the real priority to smash Yasser Arafat's

PLO. The Israeli siege of west Beirut caused much suffering.

Christian militias close to Sharon slaughtered unprotected

Palestinians. An Israeli tribunal found Ariel Sharon indirectly

responsible for the massacre and he was sacked. But Sharon clawed his

way back. By the end of the 90s he was Foreign Minister under Benjamin

Netanyahu. His ambition to take over the right-wing in Israeli politics

led him to a highly provocative visit to the mosque on Temple

Mount. It triggered a Palestinian uprising, but also helped sweep

Sharon into power. Ariel Sharon promised Israelis peace with

security but brought neither. Palestinians said that suicide bombs

triggered ever hard punishment, Sharon once again pitted against his

old foe Yasser Arafat. It is an enemy. Ariel Sharon spent most of

his life fighting Israel's enemies. His final act was to build a barrier

to keep them out. But he also withdrew from the Gaza Strip and the

part of the West Bank, defying his original supporters, the Israeli

settlers. His vision became peace with the Palestinians and Israel's

neighbours, but strictly on Israel's terms. But in January 2006,

the Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a huge/ . He went into a

coma and never suffered. Ariel Sharon died with peace still a

distant prospect. Joining us live from Israel is Kevin Connolly our

Jerusalem Correspondent. In many respects, to look at the life of

Ariel Sharon is to track the history of modern-day Israel. That is right,

Ariel Sharon was in it at the very beginning, a member of the founding

generation of the Israeli state. He fought in Israel's war in 1948 and

it was then it seemed a pivotal figure in almost every crucial

moment in Israeli history until that moment when he slipped into a coma

about eight years ago. In many senses Israel pauses at the moment

in a particular mood because the story of Ariel Sharon's life with

all its light and dark and War and peace is to some extent the story of

the whole Israeli state and that gave him a very special status. He

was always a controversial figure, hated by his enemies and never

trusted by the left, but nobody doubted his stature and that is how

he will be remembered. Kevin, thank you very much. Scotland Yard say a

number of protestors plan to "provoke disorder" at a vigil for

Mark Duggan outside Tottenham police station in North London today. They

say officers will be ready to intervene immediately. Mr Duggan's

fatal shooting by police in London in 2011 led to rioting across

England. It was the spike at least. This week, an inquest jury returned

a verdict of lawful killing, sparking anger from friends and

relatives. Our correspondent, Tom Symonds, is in Tottenham now. Tom.

Carol Duggan, Mark Duggan's card, said on the steps of the court this

week, no justice, no peace, but she has made it clear that protest

should be noisy but not violent and the family has reiterated that since

the verdict in the Mark Duggan inquest. The police are aware, they

say, of small groups that they say are intent on causing trouble. But

there is a big policing operation in place here. It may not look like it,

but there are police vans in side streets and there are police

officers and press officers on the ground. They intend to keep control

of the situation. One complication is the football match due to start

at White Hart Lane this afternoon. The vigil starts at 2pm and will

involve speeches by supporters of Mark Duggan. The Defence Secretary

Philip Hammond has rejected suggestions that the Army is

struggling to attract new recruits. Today the Army launches its third

advertising campaign of the past year. The size of the regular Army

is being cut by almost 20,000, but the number of reservists is going

up. Andy Moore reports. Launching a ?3 million recruitment

campaign in the midst of ongoing defence cuts may seem perverse.

Later this month, the Army will be announcing its fourth round of

redundancies. But the military says it always needs a healthy flow of

new recruits and this campaign called more than meets the eye, aims

to highlight the opportunities for regular soldiers and reserves. The

purpose of the campaign we are launching today is to dispel for

ever the myth that somehow the Army isn't recruiting. Yes, the regular

Army will be smaller in the future and yes there will be one further

round of redundancies, unfortunately, but that does not

mean the Army is not recruiting. The government has already announced the

size of the regular Army would shrink to 82,000 personnel. To

compensate the Army aims to nearly doubled the size of the reserve

force. Currently there are 19,000 trained, part-time soldiers. By the

end of the decade that should be 30,000 strong. So via the Army is

not meeting its recruiting targets for the reserves. Labour has called

this new recruitment campaign and overdue but welcome step. It has

previously called on the government to reconsider the pace of job

losses. The Army hopes this advert will entice many to sign up and join

what it says and exciting career. That is all from me. There will be

more on the death of