In Israel, the country’s prime minister Ariel Sharon is fighting for his life after he suffered a significant stroke last night. Doctors say he is now in an intensive care unit after undergoing nine hours of surgery to stem bleeding in his brain. Even if he survives, the 77-year-old is not expected to ever regain leadership of the country. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has already been named interim prime minister–a position he will hold for 100 days. Olmert oversaw an emergency cabinet meeting this morning. Sharon’s stroke comes at a time that Israel is at a critical crossroads in its history. National elections are slated for March. Ariel Sharon has played a major role in the history of Israel over the last half century first as a fighter, later as a politician. Among Palestinians, Sharon is seen as the father of the settlement movement and the architect of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which killed a reported 20,000 Palestinian and Lebanese. An Israeli commission of inquiry found Sharon had “personal responsibility” for the massacre of over 1,000 Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon in 1982. As Prime Minister, he oversaw Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and settlements he once helped to build. Last month, he left the Likud party to form the new party Kadima–the Hebrew word for “Forward.” We’ll go to Israel later in the show for more on Ariel Sharon.