47-664: Golda Meir ( 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. Born into a Ukrainian-Jewish family in Kyiv in what was then the Russian Empire , Meir immigrated with her family to the United States in 1906. She graduated from
94-577: A man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over the e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition ,
141-504: A naturalized US citizen, as her father had naturalized, and at that time children of naturalized citizens under the age of 21 received citizenship by descent. On 24 December 1917, Meir and Meyerson married. However, Meir's precondition for marriage was to settle in Palestine . She had intended to make aliyah (immigration to Israel) straight away, but her plans were disrupted when all transatlantic passenger services were canceled due to
188-613: A portrait of Meir on one side and the image of the crowd greeting her in Moscow on the other. To her close friends, she admitted she had little to do in Moscow and felt isolated from Israeli politics. Despite being a socialist that was born in Ukraine, her Jewish side caused friction with the Soviets that made progress difficult. By the end of her term, she felt she had accomplished little. She reportedly felt guilty for not achieving more for
235-571: A significant impact on her. There, she witnessed an elderly Arab woman emerging from a destroyed house, clutching to her few remaining belongings. When the two women made eye contact, they burst into tears. Meir went on to call the mass expulsion and flight of Arabs before the 1948 Palestine war "dreadful", and likened it to what befell the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. She returned to Tel Aviv, and eventually to Jerusalem two weeks before
282-485: A state. I want to be there. I don't want to go thousands of miles away. Why do I always have to go away?" Her return to Israel was delayed due to a car crash in which she tore a ligament and fractured a bone. Soviet officials refused to believe she was in hospital and wanted an Israeli envoy as soon as possible. Thus she ignored doctor's orders to rest and returned to Israel on 29 July. Years later, her leg would frequently pain her. Meir served as minister plenipotentiary to
329-440: A suspected heart attack. Ben-Gurion and the political department heads urged her to guard her health and come to Jerusalem as soon as she could. They asked her to be "the mother of this city", and that her "words to 100,000 residents will be a source of blessing and encouragement". However, she felt it was a secondary and temporary role. Instead, on 6 May, she visited Haifa after its 22 April occupation by Hagannah . This trip had
376-416: Is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote
423-553: The Israeli Declaration of Independence . She later recalled, "After I signed, I cried. When I studied American history as a schoolgirl and I read about those who signed the U.S. 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 establishment." A day after independence, the second phase of the war began. Meir also suddenly lost her job and administrative responsibilities, as
470-521: The Labor Zionist youth movement . She spoke at public meetings and embraced Socialist Zionism . She attended the teachers college Milwaukee State Normal School (now University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee ) in 1916, and likely part of 1917. In 1917, she took a position at a Yiddish-speaking Folks Schule in Milwaukee. There, she further embraced Labor Zionism. On 9 July 1917, Golda became
517-583: The Milwaukee Public Library . Her mother wanted Golda to leave school and marry, but she declined. On 17 February 1913, Meir took a train to live with her married sister, Sheyna Korngold, in Denver , Colorado. There, Meir attended North High School . The Korngolds held intellectual evenings at their home, where Meir was exposed to debates on Zionism , literature, women's suffrage , trade unionism, and more. In her autobiography, she wrote: "To
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#1732790667422564-703: 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
611-644: The Moscow Choral Synagogue , she was mobbed by thousands of Russian Jews chanting in Russian "Nasha Golda", meaning "Our Golda". In her autobiography she said "I felt as though I had been caught up in a torrent of love so strong that it had literally taken my breath away and slowed down my heart." This event was commemorated by the Israeli 10,000- shekel banknote issued in November 1984. It bore
658-537: The SS Pocahontas , from New York to Naples , then from there to Tel Aviv by train. Meir's parents subsequently moved to Palestine in 1926. They were eventually accepted into kibbutz Merhavia in the Jezreel Valley after an initial rejected application. Her duties included picking almonds , planting trees, working in the chicken coops, and running the kitchen. Recognizing her leadership abilities,
705-527: The Soviet Union from 2 September 1948 to 10 March 1949. She was reportedly impatient with diplomatic niceties and using interpreters. She did not drink or ballroom dance and had little interest in gossip and fashion. According to her interpreter, when asked by a Russian ambassador how she traveled to Moscow, she responded "tell His Excellency the Ambassador that we arrived riding on donkeys". This
752-624: The provisional government of Israel , and included her instead in the 37-member People's Council. Ben-Gurion protested this, saying "It is inconceivable that there shall be no adequate woman…it is a moral and political necessity, for the Yishuv, the Jewish world and the Arab world." At one point, he even considered offering her his spot on the cabinet. On 13 April, she was hospitalized in Tel Aviv due to
799-545: The American Young Sisters Society, a fundraiser to pay for her classmates' textbooks in 1908. As part of the organization's activities, she rented a hall and scheduled a public meeting for the event. Despite frequent tardiness due to having to work in her mother's store, she graduated as valedictorian of her class. In 1912, she began studying at North Division High School and worked part-time. Her employers included Schuster's department store and
846-527: The Knesset until 1974. Ben-Gurion initially offered Meir the position of "deputy prime minister", which she rejected. She found the title and responsibilities vague, and disliked the idea of needing to coordinate with so many government departments. Instead, she took the role of Labor Minister , which she held from 10 March 1949 to 19 June 1956. Meir enjoyed this role much more than her previous, calling it her "seven beautiful years". In particular, she enjoyed
893-547: The Political Department became the provisional Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and her leadership role in Jerusalem was taken over by Dov Yosef . On 18 May, she embarked on a second and even more successful fundraising tour in which she raised around $ 50 million. In total, her fundraising efforts raised around $ 90 million, around a third of the cost of the war ($ 275 million). During preparations for this trip, she
940-780: The Political Department of the Jewish Agency after the British arrested Moshe Sharett and other leaders of the Yishuv as part of Operation Agatha . This was a critical moment in her career: she became the principal negotiator between the Jews in Palestine and the British Mandatory authorities. After his release, Sharett went to the United States to attend talks on the UN Partition Plan , leaving Meir to head
987-511: The Political Department until the establishment of the state in 1948. In 1947, she traveled to Cyprus to meet Jewish detainees of the Cyprus internment camps , who had been interned by the British after being caught trying to illegally enter Palestine, and persuade them to give priority to families with children to fill the small quota of detainees allowed into Palestine. She was largely successful in this task. On 17 November 1947, shortly before
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#17327906674221034-480: The Russian Jews, as she would have been in their situation if her father had not moved to the United States. She planned to run for the first Knesset elections on 25 January 1949. The month before the elections, she returned to Israel and campaigned for Mapai . Mapai won 35% of the votes and formed a coalition, and Ben-Gurion invited her into the cabinet. She was sworn in on 8 March, and continued to serve in
1081-478: The United States as an emissary for the organization and to get expert medical treatment for her daughter's kidney illness. In 1934, when Meir returned from the United States, she joined the Executive Committee of the Histadrut and moved up the ranks to become the head of its Political Department. This appointment was important training for her future role in Israeli leadership. In July 1938, Meir
1128-571: The United States. Golda along with her mother and sisters landed in Quebec and traveled to Milwaukee by train. Meir's mother ran a grocery store on Milwaukee's north side. By age eight, Meir was often put in charge of watching the store when her mother went to buy supplies. She attended the Fourth Street Grade School (now Golda Meir School ) from 1906 to 1912. A leader early on, she and a close friend, Regina Hamburger, organized
1175-460: The ability to act quickly and with little friction from others. She was also one of the most powerful Israeli politicians at the time. The main source of friction in the role was funding, especially to deal with the millions of immigrants arriving in the new state. In October 1950, Meir announced in Washington a three-year-plan for Israel's development and stated a price tag of $ 15 billion over
1222-420: The ban on Hebrew language study and the prohibition of promoting emigration to Israel. Just 20 days after her term began, antisemitic crackdowns began in response to an article by Soviet Jewish writer Ilya Ehrenburg . Meir and the other Israeli representatives responded by making a point of visiting Russian Jewish businesses, synagogues, and performances. On 3 October, during Rosh Hashanah celebrations at
1269-519: The complaints of her colleagues in the Finance Ministry, Meir worked to establish social security , maternity benefits, work-related accident insurance, benefits to widows and orphans, and even burial costs. Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name is the name given to a person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered,
1316-463: The country to find work in New York City in 1903. In his absence, the rest of the family moved to the city of Pinsk (within present-day Belarus ) to join her mother's family. In 1905, Moshe moved to Milwaukee , Wisconsin, in search of higher-paying work, and found employment in the workshops of the local railroad yard . The following year, he had saved up enough money to bring his family to
1363-399: The end of the mandate. On 10 May, Meir had a second meeting with Abdullah I. She travelled to Amman in secret, disguised as an Arab woman. He proposed that Palestine be absorbed into Jordan, with autonomy granted to majority-Jewish areas. Golda rejected the proposal. It then seemed likely that Abdullah I would invade. On 14 May 1948, Meir became one of 24 signatories (including two women) of
1410-659: The entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become the person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in the normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of a person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née
1457-585: The entry of the United States into the First World War . She then threw her energies into Poale Zion activities. A short time after their wedding, she embarked on a fund-raising campaign for Poale Zion that took her across the United States. In 1921, after the conclusion of the war, the couple moved to Palestine, then part of the British Mandate , along with Meir's sister Sheyna, Sheyna's daughter, and Meir's childhood friend Regina. They sailed on
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1504-639: The extent that my own future convictions were shaped and given form ... those talk-filled nights in Denver played a considerable role." Around 1913, she began dating her future husband Morris Meyerson, a sign painter and socialist. In 1914, after disagreements with her sister, Golda left North High School, moved out of her sister's home, and found work. After reconciling with her parents, she returned to Milwaukee and resumed studies at North Division High, graduating in 1915. While there, she became an active member of Young Poale Zion , which later became Habonim ,
1551-638: The kibbutz chose her as its representative to the Histadrut , the General Federation of Labour. In 1924, the couple left the kibbutz and lived briefly in Tel Aviv before settling in Jerusalem . There, they had two children: a son Menachem in 1924, and a daughter Sarah in 1926. Meir returned to Merhavia for a brief period in 1925. In 1928, Meir was elected secretary of Moetzet HaPoalot (Working Women's Council). She spent two years (1932–34) in
1598-585: The next 15 years. The Israeli government managed to secure a loan from the United States government and American Jews that secured 40% of the budget. The newly created Israel Bonds only provided a small amount, although years later they would contribute billions to the Israeli economy. Meir assisted in building over a hundred ma'abarot ( Hebrew : מַעְבָּרוֹת ), temporary immigrant camps with crude tin-roofed huts and tents for housing. She drew criticism from many new immigrants and contemporary politicians due to this, but responded by pointing to her limited budget and
1645-416: The opposing Arab Higher Committee's annual budget was around $ 2.25 million, similar to Haganah's annual budget before the war. Ben-Gurion wrote that Meir's role as the "Jewish woman who got the money which made the state possible" would go down in history. However, upon returning home, she suffered a political setback. The Jewish Agency and National Council Executives excluded her from the 13-member cabinet of
1692-458: The outbreak of the 1947-1949 Palestine war, Meir met with King Abdullah I of Jordan . Abdullah I was seen as the only Arab leader willing to ally with a future Israeli state, as he also opposed the Mufti of Jerusalem and was rivals with other Arab countries. The meeting was cordial and confirmed that Abdullah was uninterested in invading and quietly willing to cooperate in the future. For most of
1739-500: 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
1786-616: The time needed to construct proper housing. In 1953, she assisted in an effort to eliminate the ma'abarot. By 1956, two-thirds were eliminated, and 120,000 families moved to permanent housing. Meir considered herself highly productive during this period. She carried out welfare state policies, orchestrated the integration of immigrants into Israel's workforce, and introduced major housing and road construction projects. From 1949 to 1956, 200,000 apartments and 30,000 houses were built, large industrial and agricultural developments were initiated, and new hospitals, schools, and roads were built. Despite
1833-512: The war, Meir reluctantly played what she felt was a minor role in Israel's activities. An article published by the Golda Meir institute said "she felt she was being pushed aside to a secondary arena". However, she played a critical role in fundraising. In January 1948, the Jewish Agency needed to raise funds for the continuing war and the coming Israeli state. The treasurer of the Jewish Agency
1880-544: 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
1927-642: Was an important and difficult role. Good relations with the Soviet Union impacted Israel's ability to secure arms from Eastern European countries. In turn, Joseph Stalin and Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov saw its relationship with Israel as a means of furthering the Soviet position in the Middle East. However, Soviet–Israeli relations were complicated by Soviet policies against religious institutions and nationalist movements, made manifest in actions to shut down Jewish religious institutions as well as
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1974-627: Was born into a Ukrainian-Jewish family in downtown Kyiv in what was then the Russian Empire on May 3, 1898. She was the daughter of Blume Neiditch (died 1951) and Moshe Yitzhak Mabovitch (died 1944), a carpenter. Meir wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of her father boarding up the front door in response to rumours of an imminent pogrom . She was named after her great-grandmother, Golde, mother of her maternal grandfather. She had two sisters, Sheyna (born 1889) and Tzipke (later known as Clara; born 1902), as well as five other siblings who died in childhood. Meir's father, Moshe, left
2021-523: 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. Most historians believe Meir was more successful as Minister of Labour and Housing than as Premier. Golda Mabovitch
2068-544: Was convinced that they would not be able to raise more than $ 7 to $ 8 million from the American Jewish community. Meir raised over $ 30 million. Key to her success was an emotional speech she first delivered in Chicago on 22 January. She toured dozens of cities in the United States and returned to Israel on 18 March. The funds were critical to the success of the war effort and the establishment of Israel; by comparison,
2115-538: Was disappointed at the outcome and she remarked to the press, "There is only one thing I hope to see before I die and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore." Throughout World War II , Meir served several key roles in the Jewish Agency , which functioned as the arm of the Zionist Organization in British Palestine . In June 1946, Meir became acting head of
2162-515: Was issued the first Israeli passport. Over the ten weeks that she was gone, Israel was battered by the war and changed drastically. On 25 June, while still in the United States, Meir was appointed by Sharett, then the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as the minister plenipotentiary to the Soviet Union , which recently recognized Israel. Meir was displeased by the offer. She spoke no Russian and feared being lonely in Moscow. She said "At last we have
2209-595: Was the Jewish observer from Palestine at the Évian Conference , called by President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States to discuss the question of Jewish refugees ' fleeing Nazi persecution. Delegates from the 32 invited countries repeatedly expressed their sorrow for the plight of the European Jews, but refused to admit the refugees. The only exception was the Dominican Republic , which pledged to accept 100,000 refugees on generous terms. Meir
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