The former Israeli Prime Minister died on January 11, 2014 at the age of 85 after eight years in coma.

Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is to be buried today, January 13, 2014, at his Negev ranch after a State funeral, The Jerusalem Post said yesterday. His body lay in State yesterday at the Knesset.

Sharon, one of the most important and controversial figures in Israel’s history, died on Saturday, January 11, 2014 at the Sheba Medical Centre at the age of 85. He died more than eight years after falling into an irreversible coma following a stroke in 2006.

Ariel Sharon will receive a military funeral on the Hill of the Anemones outside his Sycamore Ranch in the Negev. He will then be buried beside his wife who died in 2000. World leaders, including US Vice President, Joseph Biden, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov and former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, are expected to attend the event.

Israeli President, Shimon Peres, described Sharon as someone who "knew no fear" and was one of the architects of his country, the BBC reported yesterday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "his memory will forever be held in the heart of the nation." US President, Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle, said they honoured “his commitment to his country.” UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, paid tribute to the “brave and controversial decisions” Sharon took in pursuit of peace.

French President, François Hollande, said after a long military and political career, Sharon "made the choice to turn towards dialogue with Palestinians." A former Palestinian minister, Ghassan Khatib, said "in all his history, Sharon played a negative role," while a senior official in the Fatah Movement, Jibril Rajoub, described him as “one whom Palestinians had wanted to see tried as a war criminal.”