Golda Meir

Golda Meir (Hebrew: ) (born Golda Mabovitz; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was one of the founders of the State of Israel.

Meir served as the Minister of Labor, Foreign Minister, and as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from March 17, 1969 to June 3 1974. Golda Meir was known as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics years before the epithet became associated with Margaret Thatcher. David Ben-Gurion once described her as "the only man in the Cabinet." She is the first (and to date only) female Prime Minister of Israel, and was the third female Prime Minister in the worldFemale Prime Ministers before Golda Meir were Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India.

Birth and early life

She was born as Golda Mabovitz in Kiev in the Russian Empire (today Ukraine), to Blume Naidtich and Moshe Mabovitz. She wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumors of an imminent pogrom. Living conditions in the Pale of Settlement were tough; she and her two sisters (Sheyna and Tzipke) were often hungry and cold. Her other five siblings had died in their childhood. Golda especially looked up to Sheyna. Her father left for the United States in 1903. In the following years the rest of the family stayed in Pinsk and Golda's big sister Sheyna was engaged in Zionist-Revolutionary activity, which endangered her. It impressed young Golda very much, but compelled the rest of the family to follow Moshe to the United States in 1906.

Emigration to the United States, 1906

They settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, Golda's father worked as a carpenter and her mother ran a grocery store. When Golda was only eight years old, she had to oversee the store for a short time each morning as her mother was buying supplies at the market.

Golda Meir attended the Fourth Street School (now Golda Meir School) across from the Schlitz Brewing Complex from 1906 to 1912. It was here that Golda undertook her first public works project, by organizing a fundraiser to pay for her classmate's textbooks. After forming the American Young Sisters Society, she rented a hall and scheduled a public meeting for the event. Despite not having known English upon entry, Golda graduated as valedictorian of her class.

When Golda was 14 she began attending North Division High School and took part-time jobs to pay expenses. Her mother suggested that she give up school for work and marry. Golda rebelled and ran away to Denver, Colorado where her older sister, Sheyna, was living. She stayed for about a year in a duplex at 1606 Julian Street. Golda attended North High School there and met Morris Myerson, a sign painter, whom she would later marry.

In 1913 Golda returned to Milwaukee and re-enrolled at North Division, graduating in 1915. While there, she was an active member of the youth movement, Habonim (which merged with the like-minded Dror in 1982 to form Habonim Dror). She participated in public speaking at meetings and in her speeches often advocated for Socialist Zionism. Often she hosted visitors from Palestine.

Upon her graduation from the Milwaukee State Normal School (now University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where the library is named after her) she taught in the public schools. She formally joined the Labor Zionist Organization in 1915.

Golda and Morris married in 1917 and began planning to make aliyah (emigration to the land of Israel, then part of various Ottoman provinces). The couple and her elder sister Sheyna emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1921.

Emigration to Palestine, 1921


Working in kibbutz Merhavia

Golda and Morris wanted to join a kibbutz. She applied to join Kibbutz Merhavia and was turned down at first, but eventually was accepted into the community. Her duties there included picking almonds, planting trees, caring for chickens, and running the kitchen. She also began to emerge as a leader. Her kibbutz chose her to represent them at Histadrut, the General Federation of Labor. By 1924, her husband had grown tired of the kibbutz life and they left.

They lived briefly in Tel Aviv, before settling in Jerusalem. There they had two children, son Menachem and daughter Sarah. In 1928, Golda was elected secretary of the Women's Labor Council of Histadrut. This required her to move to Tel Aviv, but her husband stayed in Jerusalem while the children stayed with her. Morris and Golda grew apart but never divorced. Morris died in 1951.

She grew increasingly influential in Histadrut, which evolved into a shadow government for the yet to be born nation of Israel. In 1946, the British cracked down on the Zionist movement in Palestine. They arrested many of its leaders. Golda, however, was never arrested. She gradually took charge of the organization. She negotiated with the British, but also kept in contact with the growing guerrilla movement.

Israel established, 1948

Golda Meir was one of twenty-four people (and one of two women) who signed the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. She later recalled, "After I signed, I cried. When I studied American history as a schoolgirl and I read about those who signed the Declaration of Independence, I couldn't imagine these were real people doing something real. And there I was sitting down and signing a declaration of independence."

The following day, Israel was attacked by joint forces from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan and Iraq. Golda was issued Israel's first passport and went to the United States to raise money for the fledgling nation.

When she returned, she was assigned to be the first ambassador to the Soviet Union. She served there briefly, leaving in 1949. During her stay in Moscow, she attended high holiday services and was mobbed by thousands of Russian Jews chanting her name; Stalin's repression of Jewish identity in the Soviet Union made many observers wonder whether there was still a strong sense of community but the crowd's welcoming treatment provided the answer. The picture on the back of Meir's Israeli Shekel banknote is that of the crowd in Moscow surrounding her and lifting her in happiness. She then entered the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) where she served continuously until 1974.

Political life prior to becoming Prime Minister

From 1949 to 1956, Meir was the Israeli Minister of Labor. In 1956, she became Foreign Minister under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The previous Foreign Minister, Moshe Sharett, had ordered that all members of the foreign service Hebraicize their last names. Golda had ignored that order as amabassador, but now that she was becoming Foreign Minister herself, Ben-Gurion asked Golda to change her name to a Hebrew name. She chose Meir, meaning "makes a light".

In the early 1960s she was diagnosed with lymphoma, which she kept hidden because she thought others might deem her unfit for service. She resigned from the Cabinet in 1965, citing illness and exhaustion of her years of service. At first, she returned to her modest life, but she was soon called back into service. She served as Secretary General of the Labor Party for eight months and retired again on August 1, 1968.

Prime Minister

After Levi Eshkol died suddenly on February 26, 1969, the party chose her to succeed him as Prime Minister. Meir came out of retirement to take office on March 17 and served in that role until 1974. When Meir became Prime Minister, Israel was brimming with confidence, having won a decisive victory over the Arabs and capturing large areas of territory in the Six Day War. Nonetheless, Meir had to deal with the continuing Egyptian shelling of Israeli forces along the Suez Canal in the War of Attrition.

Operation Wrath of God

Following the 1972 Munich murders at the summer Olympic Games, Meir appealed to the world to "save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed" ^*. Meir and the Israeli Defense Committee felt that the world did not adequately respond and therefore authorized the Mossad to kill Black September and PFLP operatives wherever they could be found (Morris 1999). Steven Spielberg's movie Munich (2005) was loosely based on these events, as written in the novel Vengeance by George Jonas.

1973 Yom Kippur War

Israeli intelligence was never entirely sure if war was indeed impending or not. The day before the war was set to begin, Israeli intelligence was able to finally verify that war was indeed imminent. Six hours before the war was set to begin, Meir met with Moshe Dayan and Israeli general David Elazar. While Dayan argued that the war might not even start, Elazar wanted to launch a pre-emptive strike on Syrian forces. Meir considered both options and then decided not to launch a pre-emptive strike. Meir made this decision because she believed that Israel could not depend on European countries to supply Israel with military goods as European countries were under the threat of an Arab oil embargo and trade boycott. She felt that the only country who would come to Israel's assistance would be the United States, and Meir feared that by launching a pre-emptive strike, the U.S. would be less likely to do so. In hindsight, this was probably a wise decision, as the U.S. launched Operation Nickel Grass. Henry Kissinger later verified Meir's fears by stating that if Israel had launched the pre-emptive strike, Israel would not have received "so much as a nail".

Resignation

Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Meir's government was clouded by internal squabbles among the governing coalition and had to face serious questions over strategic misjudgments as well as the general lack of leadership that resulted in the unanticipated Yom Kippur War. On April 11 1974, Golda Meir resigned leadership, to be succeeded by Yitzhak Rabin on June 3, 1974.

On December 8, 1978, Golda Meir died in Jerusalem, Israel of cancer at the age of 80. She was buried on Mount Herzl, in Jerusalem.

Portrayals

Golda Meir's story has been the subject of many fictionalized portrayals over the years. She has been portrayed by actresses as diverse as the late Swede Ingrid Bergman and the Australian Judy Davis on television, and the Jewish-American Tovah Feldshuh on Broadway. The Broadway show about her was mildly controversial in that it suggested she gave serious consideration to launching a first-strike nuclear attack during the Yom Kippur War. In 1977 she was portrayed by Anne Bancroft in the one woman play "Golda" by William Gibson on Broadway.

Most recently, she was played by actress Lynn Cohen in the 2005 Steven Spielberg film Munich. She is also portrayed by Valerie Harper in William Gibson's play Golda's Balcony, which tours various North American cities in 2005 and 2006.

Notes

Trivia

Meir was present at Ben Gurion International Airport in the fall of 1977 when President Anwar Sadat of Egypt arrived for a state visit, and greeted Sadat.
Meir is the only former American citizen to become Israeli Prime Minister, (Benjamin Netanyahu was never an American citizen; his family moved to the United States from Israel in his early teens and he moved back to Israel after graduate school).
Meir was the first female head of state, or head of government, to oversee a nuclear weapons programme. She was later followed by Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher and Benazir Bhutto.

References

Golda Meir: Peace and Arab Acceptance Were Goals of Her 5 Years as Premier, New York Times, December 9, 1978. ^*

Morris, B. (New York, 1999 and 2001), Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab conflict, 1881-2000, Vintage Books edition ISBN 0679744754

^*, September 5 1972

Meir, Golda, 1975, My Life, Putnam, first American edition, ISBN 0399116699.

Meir, Menahem, 1983, My Mother Golda Meir: A Son's Evocation of Life With Golda Meir, Arbor House Pub. Co., ISBN 0877954151

Fallaci, Oriana, 1976, "Golda Meir," Interview With History, Houghton Mifflin Co., ISBN 0395252237

Martin, Ralph G., 1988, Golda Meir: The Romantic Years, Ivy Books, ISBN 0804105367

Syrkin, Marie, 1969, Golda Meir: Israel's Leader, Putnam, ASIN B0006CPEIU

Agres, Elijahu, 1969, Golda Meir: Portrait of a Prime Minister, Sabra Books, ISBN 087631020X

External links

Prime Minister Golda Meir (Israeli Prime Minister's Office)
Knesset Member, Golda Meir (Knesset Profile)
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Biography)
Israel elects first female leader (BBC News)
Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership (Metropolitan State College of Denver)
Golda's Balcony (Official site of the touring production)
Picturing Golda Meir (Photographs from the Collection at the UWM Libraries)
Yom Kippur War: Selected Documents (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Women's International Center (Biography)
Jewish Agency For Israel (Biography)
Jewish Virtual Library (Biography)
Orthodox Union (Biography)
US Library of Congress (Golda Meir House, Denver, Colorado)
http://www.ajhs.org/publications/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=272

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