MEIR, GOLDA

Meir, Golda: translation

(formerly Meyerson)

(1898-1978)

She was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev, Russia, on 3 May 1898. In 1903, her family moved to Pinsk and, three years later, settled in Milwaukee. She graduated from high school in Milwaukee and attended the Milwaukee Normal School for Teachers. At age 17, she joinedPoalei Zion. She married Morris Meyerson in December 1917, and in 1921, they moved toPalestine. They settled inKibbutzMerhaviah but later moved toTel Avivand then toJerusalem. In 1928, she became secretary of the Women's Labor Council of theHistadrutin Tel Aviv. WhenMapaiwas formed in 1930 by the merger ofAhdut HaavodaandHapoel Hatzair, she quickly became a major figure in the newpolitical party.

In 1934, Meyerson was invited to join the executive committee of the Histadrut and became head of its political department. In 1946, when theBritish mandatoryauthorities arrested virtually all the members of theJewish Agencyexecutive and theVaad Leumithat they could find in Palestine, she became acting head of the political department of the Jewish Agency, replacingMoshe Sharett(formerly Shertok).In the months immediately preceding Israel'sDeclaration of Independence, she met secretly withKing Abdullahof Transjordan to dissuade him from joining theArab Leaguein attacking Jewish Palestine, but her efforts failed.

In early June 1948, Meyerson was appointed Israel's first minister to Moscow but returned to Israel in April 1949. She was elected to the firstKnessetin 1949 on theMapaiticket and became minister of labor, a post she held until 1956, when she became foreign minister for a decade underPrime Ministers David Ben-GurionandLevi Eshkol. As minister of labor, her principal function was the absorption of hundreds of thousands of immigrants (seeALIYA) who arrived in Israel in the first years after independence. She initiated large-scale housing and road-building programs and strongly supported unlimited immigration, and she helped to provide employment and medical care for the immigrants.

When she succeeded Sharett as foreign minister in 1956, sheHe-braicizedher name and became known as Golda Meir. As foreign minister, she concentrated on Israel's aid to African and other developing nations as a means of strengthening Israel's international position. She resigned as foreign minister in January 1966 and was succeeded byAbba Eban. Because of her enormous popularity in Mapai, she was prevailed upon to accept appointment as general secretary of the party, and, in that position, was Prime Minister Eshkol's closest advisor. In January 1968, she was instrumental in facilitating the union of Mapai,Rafi, andAhdut Haavodaas theIsrael Labor Party. After serving for two years as secretary general, she retired from public life.

Following Eshkol's sudden death in February 1969, party leaders prevailed upon Meir to become Israel's fourth prime minister in March 1969. She retained theGovernment of National Unitythat Eshkol had constructed at the time of theSix-Day War(1967). In theKnesset electionat the end of October 1969, the Labor Party won 56 seats, and Meir once again became prime minister. She led Israel through the trauma of theYom Kippur War(1973) and its aftermath. Following the 1973 election, which was postponed until 31 December, she had great difficulty in forming a government withMoshe Dayancontinuing in his role as minister of defense. In April 1974, she resigned. She died on 8 December 1978.