[Vice President Joe Biden stands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sarah, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at a state funeral held on Monday for late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He died on Saturday. Image via AP.]

Eight years after falling into a permanent vegetative state, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stopped breathing this morning at Sheba Medical Centre in Jerusalem. The former IDF general and politician, nicknamed "the Butcher of Beirut" for his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres of Palestinian civilians, was 85. He is survived by two sons, Omri and Gilad.