Sharon’s illness a sign from God, says Robertson

US Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for “dividing God’s land.”

“God considers this land to be his,” Mr Robertson said on his TV programme, The 700 Club. “You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.’”

Mr Sharon, who ordered Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza last year, suffered a severe stroke on Wednesday.