She was Israel’s fourth Prime Minister. Former prime minister David Ben-Gurion called her “the best man in the government” and she was often portrayed as the “strong-willed, straight-talking, grey-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people.” Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel on 17 March 1969, after serving as Minister of Labour and Foreign Minister. I never knew of Meir until I watched the movie, A Woman Called Golda in which Ingrid Bergman gave an Emmy award winning portrayal of Israel’s first and the world’s third woman to hold the office of Prime Minister.
Meir was born on May 3, 1898 in Kiev, Russian Empire, in present day Ukraine, to Blume Neiditch and Moshe Mabovitch, a carpenter. She had two sisters, one of whom she was close to. She had five other as well as five other siblings who died in childhood. When she was fourteen, Golda’s mother wanted her to leave school and marry but Golda rebelled by leaving home and going to live with her married sister in Denver, Colorado. There Golda was exposed to debates on Zionism, literature, women’s suffrage, trade unionism, and more. In her autobiography, she wrote: “To the extent that my own future convictions were shaped and given form… those talk-filled nights in Denver played a considerable role.” In Denver, she also met Morris Meyerson, a sign painter, whom she later married on 24 December 1917.
In 1913, she returned to North Division High, graduating in 1915. While there, she became an active member of Young Poale Zion, which later became Habonim, the Labor Zionist youth movement. She spoke at public meetings, embraced Socialist Zionism and hosted visitors from Palestine.
She attended the teachers college, Milwaukee State Normal School, (now University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee) in 1916, and probably part of 1917. After graduating from Milwaukee State, she taught in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). Meir and her husband and her sister moved to Palestine in 1921.
In 1934, when Meir returned from the United States, she joined the Executive Committee of the Histadrut and moved up the ranks to become head of its Political Department. This appointment was important training for her future role in Israeli leadership. “General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel”, known as the Histadrut, is Israel’s organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel (Wikipedia).
When the prestate British Mandatory Authorities imprisoned most of the Jewish community’s senior leadership in 1946, she replaced Moshe Sharett as head of the Jewish Agency’s Political Department, the chief Jewish liaison with the British. Elected to the Executive of the Jewish Agency, she was active in fundraising in the United States to help cover the costs of the Israeli War of Independence, and became one of the State’s most effective spokesmen.
In 1948, David Ben-Gurion appointed Golda Meir to be a member of the Provisional Government. A few days before the Declaration of Independence, BenGurion sent her disguised as an Arab on a hazardous mission to persuade King Abdullah of Jordan not to attack Israel. But the King had already decided his army would invade the Jewish state following the British departure.
In June 1948, Meir was appointed Israel’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Elected to the Knesset as a Mapai member in 1949, she served as Minister of Labor and National Insurance until 1956. In June 1956, she became Foreign Minister, a post she held until January 1966. As Foreign Minister, Meir was the architect of Israel’s attempt to create bridges to the emerging independent countries of Africa via an assistance program based on practical Israeli experience in nation building. She also endeavored to cement relations with the United States and was successful in creating extensive bilateral relations with Latin American countries.
Meir was a woman who believed in vengeance. In the wake of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Meir appealed to the world to “save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed.” Outraged at the perceived lack of global action, she ordered the Mossad to hunt down and assassinate the Black September and PFLP operatives who took part in the massacre. The 1986 TV film Sword of Gideon, based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, and Steven Spielberg’s movie Munich (2005) were based on these events.
The major event of her administration was the Yom Kippur War, which broke out with massive coordinated Egyptian and Syrian assaults against Israel on October 6, 1973. As the postwar Agranant Inquiry Commission established, the IDF and the government had erred seriously in their assessment of Arab intentions.
Although she and the Labor Party won the elections (postponed due to the war until December 31, 1973), she resigned in 1974 in favor of Yitzhak Rabin. She passed away in December 1978 and was buried on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/meir.html).
Who knew that one day the fourteen year old girl who left home because she didn’t want to forsake her education to get married would one day be one of the most influential and inspiring women in history? In 1975, Meir was awarded the Israel Prize for her special contribution to society and the State of Israel. In 1974, Meir was awarded the honor of World Mother by American Mothers, Inc. (Wikipedia)
Today we salute this “iron lady” of Israeli politics. She had all the qualities of a great leader–an iron will, warm personality, diplomacy, skill and guts. Gerald Butt, reporter for BBC News described her as a “formidable woman: in appearance she was tall and austere, with the stresses of a hard life reflected in her face; in personality, she was honest, straightforward and single-minded. In the eyes of the world, she personified the Israeli spirit” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81288.stm).
Women’s liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It’s men who are discriminated against. They can’t bear children. And no one is likely to do anything about that.
Golda Meir
Notes to Women 