Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a decorated warrior who also took steps for peace, died Saturday, January 11, after eight years in a coma. Sharon was 85. The former general had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke in January 2006. Here, he meets with Israeli journalists in Tel Aviv a month before the stroke. 
Sharon, born on a farm outside of Tel Aviv, began working with the Haganah, a militant group advocating for Israel's independence, after graduating from high school in 1945. He's shown as a young commander in the Alexandroni Brigade of the fledgling Israeli army in 1948. 
Ariel Sharon addresses troops of Unit 101 before their attack on Khan Yunis in what was formerly known as the Gaza Strip on August 30, 1955. Sharon had established the elite commando group two years before. The officer-turned-politician had a career marked with victories and controversies. 
By February 1966, when this photo was taken, Sharon was an Israeli military hero. Sharon rose through the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces and was a major general during 1967's Six-Day War, which ended with Israel notably, if controversially, expanding its territory. 
In June 1967, Sharon led his tank battalion to a crushing victory over the Egyptians in the Sinai during the Six-Day War. Here, he witnesses an aerial attack. 
Former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion is briefed in 1971 by Sharon in a trench near the Suez Canal in the Sinai. 
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan (left) visits with a bandaged Sharon during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 on the western bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Sharon said his greatest military success came during that war. He surrounded Egypt's Third Army and, defying orders, led 200 tanks and 5,000 men over the Suez Canal, a turning point. 
Sharon transitioned into government, including stints as military adviser, agriculture minister and defense minister. Here, he and Prime Minister Menachem Begin attend a Knesset meeting in June 1977. 
Sharon with his son, Gilad, and wife, Lily, during a stop in Egypt in 1979. 
An official Israeli inquiry found Sharon indirectly responsible for the September 1982 killings of as many as 2,000 Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps outside of Beirut, Lebanon. The report -- which led to Sharon's prompt resignation -- determined the then-defense minister did nothing to stop Christian militiamen allied with Israel from entering the camps. Here, demonstrators are seen near Prime Minister Menachem Begin's home in Jerusalem, calling for the resignations of Begin and Sharon. 
Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, in combat helmet and flak jacket, leads his troops toward a meeting with Christian forces in East Beirut in June 1982. Israel had invaded southern Lebanon in retaliation for an assassination attempt linked to the group Abu Nidal. 
Sharon, no longer in the Israeli military, stands at the future site of a settlement in Gaza in February 1990. 
Serving as foreign minister, Ariel Sharon talks with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright during the October 1998 Middle East peace summit in Maryland. 
Sharon made a political comeback in the 1990s, eventually becoming leader of the Likud party in 2000. In February 2001, the prime minister-elect touches the ancient stones of the Western Wall as he prays at Judaism's holiest site in Jerusalem. He took office the following month. 
The prime minister, at a March 2002 media briefing in Jerusalem, announces a widespread army operation against what he called Palestinian terrorism. He spoke out against Yasser Arafat, then a key Palestinian leader. Sharon said that Israel considered Arafat an enemy and that he would be completely isolated "at this stage.'' 
In June 2003, Sharon, right, met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, left, and U.S. President George W. Bush to discuss a Middle East "road map" for peace. After the meeting, Sharon expressed his "strong support" for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
Sharon sits alone as he waits for other Knesset members to arrive for a vote on March 28, 2005. Sharon pushed for Israel's historic 2005 withdrawal from 25 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which was turned over to Palestinian rule for the first time in 38 years. 
Immediately after he fell ill in early 2006, Sharon's prime minister power was transferred to Vice Premier Ehud Olmert. Sharon is shown only weeks before his devastating stroke. 
The politician pays a visit to his Negev Desert farm in early 2006. 
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert looks toward the empty chair of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a note is passed to him during a special meeting of the cabinet in April 2006. Israel's Cabinet declared Sharon permanently incapacitated, a decision marking the official end of his five-year tenure. Sharon suffered his stroke in January 2006 and was in a coma. 
- NEW: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is buried at his ranch in the Negev desert
- Sharon added "an unforgettable chapter" to Israel's history, Shimon Peres says
- Joe Biden says Sharon was committed to the survival of Israel and the Jewish people
- Sharon is remembered for his controversial military and political career
Editor's note: What's your reaction to Sharon's death? What will be his legacy? Share your views.
Jerusalem (CNN) -- International leaders and top Israeli officials attended a state memorial ceremony Monday for Israel's former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who died last week.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair were among those at the official ceremony outside Israel's parliament, the Knesset.
Under bright sunshine, rows of mourners gathered around Sharon's coffin over which the blue-and-white Israeli flag was draped.
"You never rested when in service of your people, when defending your land and when making it flourish," said Israeli President Shimon Peres, who delivered a eulogy to Sharon at the beginning of the ceremony.
A towering military and political leader, Sharon died Saturday after eight years in a coma.
Sharon and Arafat: Enemies to the end 
Ariel Sharon: The warrior 
Ariel Sharon: The politician 
Sharon legacy linked to military Peres, a friend and sometimes rival of Sharon's, compared him to "a lion," saying he'd contributed "an unforgettable chapter" to Israel's history.
'A complex man'
Wearing a skullcap and sunglasses, Biden sat alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In his speech, Biden praised the tenacity of Sharon, a divisive figure in the Middle East.
"Prime Minister Sharon was a complex man ... who engendered strong opinions from everyone," he said.
"But like all historic leaders -- all real leaders -- he had a North Star that guided him, a North Star from which he never, in my observation, never deviated. His North Star was the survival of the state of Israel and the Jewish people, wherever they resided."
The memorial was followed by a funeral procession that included a stop in Latrun for a special meeting of the Israel Defense Forces and ended with a military funeral at Sharon's Shikmim Ranch. Sharon was wounded in Latrun in 1948 during Israel's war for independence. He was buried at the ranch in the southern Negev desert.
Security was tight throughout.
Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, spokesman of the Israeli military, said that two rockets fired from Gaza landed around Sha'ar Hanagev in southern Israel. He could not confirm the proximity of where the rockets landed to the funeral. There were no reports of injuries.
'One of the giants'
Thousands of people Sunday paid their last respects to Sharon as his body lay in state outside the parliament.
"He was one of the giants. He was very special," said Ayala Weisel, who said she grew up learning of Sharon as a widely admired soldier who fought for his country.
She was one of many mourners who shared memories of Sharon.
Chaim Friedman, a tour guide, described Sharon as a decisive leader.
"He was known as the bulldozer because he got his way and he made things happen. He's well respected for that," Friedman said. "Sometimes in Israel, you have to do it the straight way, or you have to find the other way to get things done, and he managed to do it."
Read more: Sharon's life on the front lines
A darker view
But others have painted a darker picture of Sharon's legacy.
And the same decisions that made Sharon a controversial figure during his lengthy tenure as a military man and politician were back on display in the initial reactions to his death.
These moments include his role as defense minister during the 1982 war in Lebanon. During that conflict, he was held indirectly responsible by an Israeli inquiry in 1983 for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. He was forced to resign.
He also raised ire in the Arab world by encouraging Israelis to build settlements on occupied Palestinian land but later did an about-face and pushed for the historic withdrawal from settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, which were turned over to Palestinian rule for the first time in nearly four decades.
"We deal with the death of Sharon as an end for the crimes he committed against the Palestinian people," said Isra Almodallal, a spokeswoman for Hamas, the Palestinian movement that runs Gaza. "The biggest crime was the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon, and we deal with Sharon as a criminal person."
Read more: Five things to know about Sharon
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Jerusalem, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Kareem Khader, Mariano Castillo, Saad Abedine and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
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