By host Tom Ashbrook:

Israel prime minister Ariel Sharon was not nicknamed “the bulldozer” for nothing. In a long, bold controversial military and political life, Sharon has led commandos, stormed across the Suez Canal, been implicated in massacre and provided the spark for Palestinian intifada.

At the heart of the conservative Likud Party, he championed the expansion of Israeli settlers into occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza. Then, to the horror of Likud stalwarts, he unilaterally withdrew Israeli settlements from Gaza.

Now, Sharon is moving boldly again — a prime minister leaving his own party while in power.

Hear about the Sharon earthquake and and its implications for the Middle East and America.

Guests:

Steven Erlanger, Jersusalem Bureau Chief for The New York Times

Tom Segev, historian and journalist

Naomi Blumenthal, member of the Likud Party

Martin Indyk, former United States Ambassador to Israel

Shai Feldman, director of the Crown Center at Brandeis University.