Golda Meir

Golda Meir
גולדה מאיר
Meir in 1964
4th Prime Minister of Israel
In office 17 March 1969 – 3 June 1974
President	Zalman Shazar Ephraim Katzir
Preceded by	Yigal Allon (interim)
Succeeded by	Yitzhak Rabin
Leader of Labor Party
In office 17 March 1969 – 3 June 1974
Preceded by	Levi Eshkol
Succeeded by	Yitzhak Rabin
Minister of Interior
In office 16 July 1970 – 1 September 1970
Prime Minister	Herself
Preceded by	Haim-Moshe Shapira
Succeeded by	Yosef Burg
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 18 June 1956 – 12 January 1966
Prime Minister	David Ben-Gurion Levi Eshkol
Preceded by	Moshe Sharett
Succeeded by	Abba Eban
Minister of Labour
In office 10 March 1949 – 19 June 1956
Prime Minister	David Ben-Gurion Moshe Sharett
Preceded by	Mordechai Bentov
Succeeded by	Mordechai Namir
Member of the Knesset for Labor Party
In office 23 January 1968 – 3 June 1974
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Isaac Rabin
Member of the Knesset for Mapai
In office 12 February 1949 – 23 January 1968
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	Golda Mabovitch (1898-05-03)3 May 1898 Kiev, Russian Empire
Died	8 December 1978(1978-12-08) (aged 80) West Jerusalem
Political party	Mapai (before 1968) Labor Party (1968–1978)
Other political affiliations	Alignment (1969–1978)
Spouse	Morris Meyerson ​ ​ (m. 1917; died 1951)​
Children	2
Alma mater	Milwaukee State Normal School
Signature

Golda Meir^{[nb 1]} (née Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government and the first in the Middle East.^[5]

Born into a Ukrainian-Jewish family in Kiev in what was then the Russian Empire, Meir immigrated with her family to the United States in 1906. She graduated from the Milwaukee State Normal School and found work as a teacher. While in Milwaukee, she embraced the Labor Zionist movement. In 1921, Meir and her husband immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, settling in Merhavia, later becoming the kibbutz's representative to the Histadrut. In 1934, she was elevated to the executive committee of the trade union. Meir held several key roles in the Jewish Agency during and after World War II. She was a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948. Meir was elected to the Knesset in 1949 and served as Labor Minister until 1956, when she was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. She retired from the ministry in 1966 due to ill health.

In 1969, Meir assumed the role of prime minister following the death of Levi Eshkol. Early in her tenure, she made multiple diplomatic visits to western leaders to promote her vision of peace in the region. The outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 caught Israel off guard and inflicted severe early losses on the army. The resulting public anger damaged Meir's reputation and led to an inquiry into the failings. Her Alignment coalition was denied a majority in the subsequent legislative election; she resigned the following year and was succeeded as prime minister by Yitzhak Rabin. Meir died in 1978 of lymphoma and was buried on Mount Herzl.

A controversial figure in Israel, Meir has been lionized as a founder of the state and described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, but also widely blamed for the country being caught by surprise during the war of 1973. In addition, her dismissive statements towards the Palestinians were widely scorned.^[6] Most historians believe Meir was more successful as Secretary of Labor and Housing than as Premier.^[7]

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