Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon has turned 80. Relatives of the stricken former prime minister held a small ceremony on Tuesday by his bedside at Tel Hashomer hospital.

Sharon suffered a stroke more than two years and went into a coma that appears irreversible.

The meeting was said to have been especially gloomy for the family as one of Sharon's two sons, Omri, will begin a seven-month prison sentence for violating election-funding laws.

A former lawmaker, Omri Sharon was convicted of illicitly bankrolling his father's successful run to become head of the Likud Party.

(c) JTA