Sharon used to be a farmer, and his 4,000-dunam (1000 acres) for which he paid $700,000 in the 1970s now is worth about $11.3 million, according to property assessor Guy Oz. The property, Havat HaShikmim (Sycamore Farm), is located in the south of Israel, near the Gaza area, within shooting distance of Arab terrorists' rockets.
The estate includes three houses, featuring a huge and expensive mansion belonging to Gilad, one of the prime minister's sons. Other properties belonging to the Prime Minister include his home in the so-called Moslem Quarter in the Old City in Jerusalem and an estate in Kfar Malal.
Sharon's wealth is more than that of former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, who are popularly thought to be rich. Barak has made millions of dollars as a consultant and lecturer, and also has spent a small fortune on a luxury home in the "millionaires' village" of Kfar Shmariyahu, near Tel Aviv. Netanyahu is less wealthy, despite his association with some of the world's wealthiest Jews, according to a survey by the Israel business newspaper Marker.
Sharon's wealth has not been clear of police investigation into fraud. Investigators earlier this month reopened a probe into a deal in which Sharon's son Gilad made more than a million shekels ($250,000) after one of the country's wealthiest businessmen did not exercise an option to buy a company partially controlled by the Sharon family. Police suspect that money paid for not exercising the option was a front for giving Sharon money in return for political favors.
The company that paid the money is controlled by the Nimrodi family. The prime minister had sent a letter to a judge confirming the integrity of Jacob Nimrodi, who was convicted of using his partnership in the daily newspaper Maariv to obstruct a court case against his son Ofir.
The estate includes three houses, featuring a huge and expensive mansion belonging to Gilad, one of the prime minister's sons. Other properties belonging to the Prime Minister include his home in the so-called Moslem Quarter in the Old City in Jerusalem and an estate in Kfar Malal.
Sharon's wealth is more than that of former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, who are popularly thought to be rich. Barak has made millions of dollars as a consultant and lecturer, and also has spent a small fortune on a luxury home in the "millionaires' village" of Kfar Shmariyahu, near Tel Aviv. Netanyahu is less wealthy, despite his association with some of the world's wealthiest Jews, according to a survey by the Israel business newspaper Marker.
Sharon's wealth has not been clear of police investigation into fraud. Investigators earlier this month reopened a probe into a deal in which Sharon's son Gilad made more than a million shekels ($250,000) after one of the country's wealthiest businessmen did not exercise an option to buy a company partially controlled by the Sharon family. Police suspect that money paid for not exercising the option was a front for giving Sharon money in return for political favors.
The company that paid the money is controlled by the Nimrodi family. The prime minister had sent a letter to a judge confirming the integrity of Jacob Nimrodi, who was convicted of using his partnership in the daily newspaper Maariv to obstruct a court case against his son Ofir.