View source for Golda Meir

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Golda Meir
| native_name         = {{nobold|גולדה מאיר}}
| image               = Golda Meir (1964) cropped.jpg
| caption             = Meir in 1964
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Israel]]
| president           = [[Zalman Shazar]]<br />[[Ephraim Katzir]]
| term_start          = 17 March 1969
| term_end            = 3 June 1974
| predecessor         = [[Yigal Allon]] (interim)
| successor           = [[Yitzhak Rabin]]
| office1             = [[Israeli Labor Party#Party leaders|Leader of Labor Party]]
| term_start1         = 17 March 1969
| term_end1           = 3 June 1974
| predecessor1        = [[Levi Eshkol]]
| successor1          = Yitzhak Rabin
| office2             = [[Ministry of Interior (Israel)|Minister of Interior]]
| primeminister2      = ''Herself''
| term_start2         = 16 July 1970
| term_end2           = 1 September 1970
| predecessor2        = [[Haim-Moshe Shapira]]
| successor2          = [[Yosef Burg]]
| office3             = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = [[David Ben-Gurion]]<br/>Levi Eshkol
| term_start3         = 19 June 1956
| term_end3           = 12 January 1966
| predecessor3        = [[Moshe Sharett]]
| successor3          = [[Abba Eban]]
| office4             = [[Labor Minister of Israel|Minister of Labor]]
| primeminister4      = David Ben-Gurion<br/>Moshe Sharett
| term_start4         = 10 March 1949
| term_end4           = 19 June 1956
| predecessor4        = [[Mordechai Bentov]]
| successor4          = [[Mordechai Namir]]
| office5             = 
| term_start5         = 
| term_end5           = 
| birth_name          = Golda Mabovitch
| office6             = Member of the [[Knesset]]
| term_start6         = 12 February 1949
| term_end6           = 3 June 1974
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1898|5|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Kiev]]<!--Do NOT change spelling, see [[WP:MPN]].-->, Russian Empire
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1978|12|8|1898|5|3|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[West Jerusalem]]
| party               = [[Poale Zion]] (1915–1919)<br>[[Ahdut HaAvoda]] (1919–1930)<br>[[Mapai]] (1930–1968)<br>[[Israeli Labor Party|Labor Party]] (1968–1978)
| otherparty          = [[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]] (1969–1978)
| spouse              = {{marriage|Morris Meyerson|December 24, 1917|May 25, 1951|end=d}}
| children            = 2
| alma_mater          = [[Milwaukee State Normal School]]
| signature           = Golda Meir Signature.svg
| native_name_lang    = he
| office7             = [[List of ambassadors of Israel to Russia|Minister Plenipotentiary to the Soviet Union]]
| term_start7         = 10 September 1948
| term_end7           = 25 January 1949
| predecessor7        = ''Office established''
| successor7          = Mordechai Namir
}}
{{Socialism in Israel}}
'''Golda Meir'''{{refn|{{bulleted list|English: {{IPAc-en|ˌ|ɡ|oʊ|l|d|ə|_|m|eɪ|ˈ|ɪər}} {{respell|GOHL|də|_|may|EER}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meir |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/meir |access-date=June 26, 2019 |website=[[Collins English Dictionary]] |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |archive-date=June 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626135412/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/meir |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Meir,+Golda |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225173524/https://www.lexico.com/definition/meir,_golda |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-02-25 |title=Meir, Golda |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Meir|access-date=June 26, 2019}}</ref><ref name="chronology"/><!--see "1956"--> |{{langx|he|גּוֹלְדָּה מֵאִיר}}, {{IPA|he|ˈɡolda meˈ(ʔ)iʁ, ɡolˈda -|pron}};|{{langx|ar|جولدا مائير|Jūldā Māʾīr}}.}}|group=nb}} (previously '''Meyerson'''; {{Nee|'''Mabovitch'''}};{{refn|{{bulleted list|{{langx|uk|Ґолда Мабович}};|{{langx|ru|Голда Мабович}}.}}|group=nb}} 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was the [[prime minister of Israel]] from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and, to date, only female head of government.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kort |first=Michael |title=The Handbook of the Middle East |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TkQ68EbRP4wC&dq=Golda+Meir+first+female+head+of+state+in+the+Middle+East&pg=PA76 |publisher=Lerner Publishing Group |year=2002 |page=76 |isbn=9781315170688 |access-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420162558/https://books.google.com/books?id=TkQ68EbRP4wC&dq=Golda+Meir+first+female+head+of+state+in+the+Middle+East&pg=PA76 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

Born into a Jewish family in [[Kiev]]<!--Do NOT change spelling, see [[WP:MPN]].--> (within present-day Ukraine), [[Russian Empire]], Meir immigrated with her family to the United States in 1906. She graduated from the [[Wisconsin State College of Milwaukee|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 [[Third Aliyah|immigrated]] to [[Mandatory Palestine]], settling in [[Merhavia (kibbutz)|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 for Israel|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 of Israel|Labor Minister]] until 1956, when she was appointed [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|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 [[Agranat Commission|an inquiry into the failings]]. Her [[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]] coalition was denied a majority in the [[1973 Israeli legislative election|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, [[There was no such thing as Palestinians|her dismissive statements towards the Palestinians]] have been described as the most famous example of Israeli denial of [[Palestinians|Palestinian identity]].<ref name=Waxman/> Most historians believe Meir was more successful as Minister of Labour and Housing than as Premier.<ref name="Meron Medzini"/>

==Early life==
[[File:Golda Meir-Y.jpg|thumb|left|Meir, before 1910]]
Meir was born Golda Mabovitch on 3 May 1898 into a Jewish family<ref>{{Cite web|title=Golda Meir becomes Israeli Prime Minister {{!}} History Today|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/golda-meir-becomes-israeli-prime-minister|access-date=2021-04-26|website=www.historytoday.com|archive-date=July 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724184319/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/golda-meir-becomes-israeli-prime-minister|url-status=live}}</ref> in downtown [[Kiev]]<!--Do NOT change spelling, see [[WP:MPN]].--> in present-day [[Ukraine]], then part of the [[Russian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite news|title="Мати Ізраїлю" з Києва: 120 років від дня народження Ґолди Меїр|url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29204774.html|access-date=2021-05-27|website=Радіо Свобода|date=February 21, 2021|language=uk|last1=Костюк|first1=Богдана|archive-date=April 20, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420162556/https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29204774.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Her parents were Blume Neiditch (died 1951) and Moshe Yitzhak Mabovitch (died 1944), a carpenter. Meir wrote in her autobiography that her earliest memories were of Moshe boarding up the front door in response to rumours of an imminent [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire|pogrom]]. She was named after Blume's paternal grandmother, Golde. She had two sisters, Sheyna (born 1889) and Tzipke (later known as Clara; born 1902), as well as five other siblings who died in infancy.<ref name="chronology">{{Cite web |last1=Provizer |first1=Norman |last2=Wright |first2=Claire |title=Chronology of Golda Meir |url=https://www.msudenver.edu/golda-meir-center/golda-meir/chronology/ |access-date=22 November 2015 |website=[[Metropolitan State University of Denver]] |archive-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018081446/https://www.msudenver.edu/golda/goldameir/chronologyofgoldameir/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Moshe left Russia to find work in [[New York City]], United States, in 1903.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golda Meir's American Roots |url=http://ajhs.org/scholarship/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=272 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426080554/http://ajhs.org/scholarship/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=272 |archive-date=April 26, 2011 |access-date=June 27, 2016 |publisher=American Jewish Historical Society}}</ref> In his absence, the rest of the family moved to [[Pinsk]], a city in present-day [[Belarus]], to join Blume'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 the United States. Meir, along with Blume, Sheyna, and Tzipke, landed in [[Quebec]] and traveled to Milwaukee by train.<ref name="chronology" />

Blume ran a grocery store on Milwaukee's north side. By the age of eight, Meir was often put in charge of watching the store when Blume went to buy supplies. Meir attended the Fourth Street Grade School, which is now known by the [[Golda Meir School]], from 1906 to 1912. A leader early on, she and a close friend, Regina Hamburger, organized the American Young Sisters Society, a fundraiser to pay for her classmates' textbooks in 1908. As part of the organization's activities, Meir rented a hall and scheduled a public meeting for the event. She graduated as [[valedictorian]] of her class despite frequent tardiness due to having to work in Blume's store.<ref name="chronology" />

In 1912, Meir began studying at [[North Division High School (Milwaukee)|North Division High School]]<ref name="chronology" /> and worked part-time. Her employers included [[Schuster's]] department store and the [[Milwaukee Public Library]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jim Higgins |date=November 27, 2017 |title=Author recounts Golda Meir's career as a leader, which began as a schoolgirl in Milwaukee |work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |url=https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2017/11/27/author-recounts-golda-meirs-career-leader-which-began-schoolgirl-milwaukee/892209001/ |access-date=November 27, 2017 |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107052659/https://www.jsonline.com/story/entertainment/books/2017/11/27/author-recounts-golda-meirs-career-leader-which-began-schoolgirl-milwaukee/892209001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 15, 2017 |title=Goldie Mabowehz (Golda Meir), from the Milwaukee Public Library to Prime Minister of Israel |url=https://mpl.org/blog/now/goldie-mabowehz-golda-meir-from-the-milwaukee-public-library-to-prime-minister-of-israel?fontsize=bigfont |access-date=November 27, 2017 |publisher=[[Milwaukee Public Library]] |archive-date=January 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126220801/https://mpl.org/blog/now/goldie-mabowehz-golda-meir-from-the-milwaukee-public-library-to-prime-minister-of-israel?fontsize=bigfont |url-status=live }}</ref> Blume wanted Meir to leave school and marry, but the latter declined.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

The following year, Meir took a train to live with her married sister, Sheyna Korngold, in [[Denver]], Colorado.<ref>{{Cite web |title=North Denver's Most Famous Former Resident? – The Denver North Star |date=April 25, 2022 |url=https://www.denvernorthstar.com/north-denvers-most-famous-former-resident/ |access-date=2023-02-17 |language=en-US |archive-date=February 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217230440/https://www.denvernorthstar.com/north-denvers-most-famous-former-resident/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She attended [[North High School (Denver, Colorado)|North High School]] there. The Korngolds held intellectual evenings at their home, where she was exposed to debates on [[Zionism]], literature, [[women's suffrage]], [[trade unionism]], and more. In her autobiography, Meir wrote: "To the extent that my own future convictions were shaped and given form&nbsp; ... those talk-filled nights in Denver played a considerable role." Around 1913, she began dating Morris Meyerson,<ref name="chronology" /> a [[sign painter]] and [[socialist]].<ref name="UWM">{{Cite web |title=Golda Meir (1898–1978) |url=http://uwm.edu/libraries/about/golda/ |access-date=December 8, 2017 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |language=en-US |archive-date=October 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015111002/http://uwm.edu/libraries/about/golda/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Return to Milwaukee, Zionist activism, and teaching==
[[File:1914 Golda in Milwaukee.jpg|thumb|upright|Golda Mabovitch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1914]]
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 Dror|Habonim]], the [[Labor Zionist]] [[youth movement]]. She spoke at public meetings and embraced [[Labour Zionism|Socialist Zionism]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golda Meir |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/golda-meir |access-date=December 8, 2017 |website=Jewish Virtual Library |language=en |archive-date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131122159/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/golda-meir |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=chronology/>

She attended the [[normal school|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 ''[[Folk high school|Folks Schule]]'' in Milwaukee. There, she further embraced Labor Zionism.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

On 9 July 1917, Golda became 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.<ref name=chronology/>

On 24 December 1917, Meir and Meyerson married. However, Meir's precondition for marriage was to settle in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]].<ref name="HA">[https://www.haaretz.co.il/hasen/spages/998369.htmlr Mother of a nation, but not much of a mother]{{dead link |date=January 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} ''Haaretz'', July 7, 2008</ref> 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 the entry of the United States into the [[First World War]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Legacy Staff |title=Golda Meir: 10 Facts |url=https://www.legacy.com/news/culture-and-history/golda-meir-10-facts/ |access-date=6 April 2021 |work=[[Legacy.com]] |date=7 October 2015 |archive-date=April 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425072342/https://www.legacy.com/news/culture-and-history/golda-meir-10-facts/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She then threw her energies into Poale Zion activities.{{sfn|Burkett|2008|p=37}} A short time after their wedding, she embarked on a fund-raising campaign for Poale Zion that took her across the United States.<ref name=HA/>

==Immigration to Mandatory Palestine==
[[File:Golda working in kibbutz Merhavia1.jpg|thumb|upright|Golda Meir in the fields at [[Merhavia (kibbutz)|Kibbutz Merhavia]] (1920s)]]

In 1921, after the conclusion of the war, the couple moved to Palestine, then part of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate]], along with Meir's sister Sheyna, Sheyna's daughter, and Meir's childhood friend Regina. They sailed on the [[USS Pocahontas (ID-3044)|SS ''Pocahontas'']], from New York to [[Naples]], then from there to [[Tel Aviv]] by train. Meir's parents subsequently moved to Palestine in 1926.<ref name="UWM" /><ref name="chronology" />

They were eventually accepted into kibbutz [[Merhavia (kibbutz)|Merhavia]] in the [[Jezreel Valley]] after an initial rejected application. Her duties included picking [[almond]]s, planting trees, working in the chicken coops, and running the kitchen. Recognizing her leadership abilities, the kibbutz chose her as its representative to the [[Histadrut]], the General Federation of Labour.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

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.<ref name="jwa.org">{{Cite web |title=Golda Meir {{!}} Jewish Women's Archive |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/meir-golda |access-date=June 12, 2018 |website=jwa.org |language=en |archive-date=May 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527025832/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/meir-golda |url-status=live }}</ref> Meir returned to Merhavia for a brief period in 1925.<ref name=chronology/>

==Early political career==
In 1928, Meir was elected secretary of ''Moetzet HaPoalot'' (Working Women's Council). She spent two years (1932–34) in the United States as an emissary for the organization and to get expert medical treatment for her daughter's kidney illness.<ref>Golda Meir, ''Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel'', ed. Raphael Patai, New York, 1971, vol. II, pp. 776–77</ref><ref name="chronology" />

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.<ref name="EJ">"Golda Meir", ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Keter, 1972, Jerusalem, vol. 11, pp. 1242–45</ref>

In July 1938, Meir 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.<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/konferenz-von-evian-1938-kein-asyl-fuer-juedische-fluechtlinge-a-1216376.html Flüchtlingskonferenz von Évian 1938, Als die Welt sich abwandte] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619042217/https://www.spiegel.de/einestages/konferenz-von-evian-1938-kein-asyl-fuer-juedische-fluechtlinge-a-1216376.html |date=June 19, 2019 }}, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', July 6, 2018. (in German)</ref> The only exception was the [[Dominican Republic]], which pledged to accept 100,000 refugees on generous terms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MJHnyc.org |url=http://www.mjhnyc.org/documents/sosua2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929083652/http://www.mjhnyc.org/documents/sosua2.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |access-date=September 2, 2011}}</ref> Meir 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."<ref name=chronology />

Throughout [[World War II]], Meir served several key roles in the [[Jewish Agency]], which functioned as the arm of the [[World  Zionist Organization|Zionist Organization]]  in [[British Palestine]].<ref name="www.goldameir.org.il" />

In June 1946, Meir became acting head of 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 the Political Department until the establishment of the state in 1948.<ref name="EJ" />

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.<ref name="chronology" />{{Citation needed|date=February 2023|reason=The other source is too vague on why this trip was successful}}

==Role in the Palestine War and the establishment of Israel==
{{Main articles|1948 Palestine war}}
On 17 November 1947, shortly before the outbreak of the 1947-1949 Palestine war, Meir met with [[Abdullah I of Jordan|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 [[Amin al-Husseini|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.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

=== First phase of the war ===
[[File:חיפה - חגיגת יום הים - הגב' גולדה מאיר מברכת-JNF039656.jpeg|thumb|Golda Meir in Haifa, 1947]]
For most of 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".<ref name="www.goldameir.org.il">{{Cite web |title=Israel Midwife: Golda Meir in the Closing Years of the British Mandate |url=http://www.goldameir.org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=content&cs=297&langpage=heb |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=www.goldameir.org.il|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102235455/http://www.goldameir.org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=content&cs=297&langpage=heb|archive-date=2021-01-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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 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.<ref name="www.goldameir.org.il" /> Key to her success was an emotional speech she first delivered in Chicago on 22 January.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Speech that made possible a Jewish State - Jan. 2, 1948 |url=https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/speech-that-made-possible-a-jewish-state-jan-2-1948/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=Archives of Women's Political Communication |language=en |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218022610/https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/speech-that-made-possible-a-jewish-state-jan-2-1948/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She toured dozens of cities in the United States and returned to Israel on 18 March.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

The funds were critical to the success of the war effort and the establishment of Israel; by comparison, the opposing Arab Higher Committee's annual budget was around $2.25 million, similar to Haganah's annual budget before the war.<ref>[[Henry Laurens (scholar)|Henry Laurens]], ''La Question de Palestine,'' vol.3 [[Fayard]] 2007 p.33.</ref> 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.<ref name="HA" />

However, upon returning home, she suffered a political setback. The Jewish Agency and National Council Executives excluded her from the 13-member cabinet of 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.<ref name="Medzini-2017">{{Cite book |last=Medzini |first=Meron |title=Golda Meir: A Political Biography |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH |year=2017 |isbn=9783110492507 |edition=illustrated |pages=155}}</ref>

On 13 April, she was hospitalized in Tel Aviv due to 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".<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> However, she felt it was a secondary and temporary role.

Instead, on 6 May, she visited [[Haifa]] after its 22 April [[Battle of Haifa (1948)|occupation by Haganah]]. Meir called the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight|mass expulsion and flight of Arabs]] before the [[1948 Palestine war]] "dreadful", and likened it to what befell the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/books/review/Margolick-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=review |title=Margolick, David. "Endless War" ''New York Times'', May 4, 2008 |work=The New York Times |date=May 4, 2008 |access-date=February 21, 2017 |archive-date=November 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107135328/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/books/review/Margolick-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=review |url-status=live |last1=Margolick |first1=David }}</ref> She returned to Tel Aviv, and eventually to Jerusalem two weeks before the end of the mandate.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

On the 11th of May, alongside Ezra Danin, Meir had a second meeting with Abdullah I. Abdullah had refused to meet her at Naharayim again, citing safety concerns, and told her that if she wanted to meet with him she would need to make her way to Amman. He had also refused to notify the Arab Legion of her arrival, forcing Meir to travel to Amman in secret disguised as an Arab woman.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=שתי פגישותיי עם עבדאללה מלך ירדן |url=https://www.goldameir.org.il/index.php?dir=site&page=content&cs=5345&langpage=heb |access-date=2025-09-15 |website=www.goldameir.org.il |language=he}}</ref>

The two met Abdullah in the home of an associate of Danin. According to Meir's account, when asked if Abdullah would break the promise he made to her at Naharayim, he responded by claiming that he had made the promise when he was alone, but now he was "one of five", and that he did not have the capability to fulfill the promise alone. Abdullah asked Meir to let him integrate Jordan into Palestine, with Jews being granted representation in the Jordanian parliament, but Meir refused.<ref name=":0" />

By the end of the meeting, the two failed to reach an agreement and Abdullah told Meir that he would be forced to invade due to pressure from the Arab League. Meir expressed that she would be open to meeting him again after Israel had won the war.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /><ref name=":0" />

=== Second phase of the war and appointment to Minister Plenipotentiary ===
On 14 May 1948, Meir became one of 24 signatories (including two women) of the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]].{{Source?|date=April 2025}} 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."{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

A day after independence, the second phase of the war began. Meir also suddenly lost her job and administrative responsibilities, as the Political Department became the provisional Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and her leadership role in Jerusalem was taken over by [[Dov Yosef]].{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

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).<ref name="www.goldameir.org.il" /> During preparations for this trip, she was issued the first Israeli passport.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Golda |url=http://www.emeryweiner.org/cmtpages.php?file_name=goldacircle&link_id=294&preview=A |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726030417/http://www.emeryweiner.org/cmtpages.php?file_name=goldacircle&link_id=294&preview=A |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |publisher=The Emery/Weiner School}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pine |first=Dan |title=Golda Meir's life was devoted to building Zionism |url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/26398/edition_id/509/format/html/displaystory.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826214419/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/26545/golda-meir-s-life-was-devoted-to-building-zionism/ |archive-date=August 26, 2012 |access-date=July 15, 2005 |publisher=San Francisco Jewish Community Publications}}</ref> Over the ten weeks that she was gone, Israel was battered by the war and changed drastically.{{Source?|date=April 2025}} 

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.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

Meir was displeased by the offer. In spite of being born in Russia, she spoke no Russian and feared being lonely in Moscow. She said "At last we have 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?"<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

Her return to Israel was delayed due to a car crash in which she tore a ligament and fractured a bone.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> 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.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

==Government career before premiership==

=== Minister Plenipotentiary to the Soviet Union (1948–1949) ===
[[File:Golda Meir Moscow 1948.jpg|thumb|Meir surrounded by crowd of 50,000 Jews near [[Moscow Choral Synagogue]] on the first day of [[Rosh Hashanah]] in 1948. This image later appeared on the 1984 10,000-shekel banknote.]]
Meir served as minister plenipotentiary to the [[Soviet Union]] from 2 September 1948 to 10 March 1949.<ref name="Goldstein131">Yossi Goldstein, "Doomed to Fail: Golda Meir's Mission to Moscow (Part 1)", ''[[Israel Council on Foreign Relations|The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs]]'' Vol. 5 No. 3 (September 2011), p. 131</ref>

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".<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> 

This 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.<ref>Yossi Goldstein, "Doomed to Fail: Golda Meir's Mission to Moscow (Part 1)", ''[[Israel Council on Foreign Relations|The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs]]'' Vol. 5 No. 3 (September 2011), p. 134 and 137</ref> However, [[Israel–Russia relations|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 the ban on [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] language study and the prohibition of promoting emigration to Israel.<ref>Goldstein (Sept 2011), "Doomed to Fail", p. 138</ref>

Just 20 days after her term began, [[Anti-cosmopolitan campaign|antisemitic crackdowns]] began in response to an article by Soviet Jewish writer [[Ilya Ehrenburg]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Answer to a Letter |url=https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv12n2/ehrenburg.htm |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=www.revolutionarydemocracy.org |archive-date=February 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218032129/https://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv12n2/ehrenburg.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Meir and the other Israeli representatives responded by making a point of visiting Russian Jewish businesses, synagogues, and performances.<ref name="Goldstein131" />

On 3 October, during [[Rosh Hashanah]] celebrations at the [[Moscow Choral Synagogue]], she was mobbed by thousands of [[History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union|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-[[Old Israeli shekel|shekel]] banknote issued in November 1984. It bore a portrait of Meir on one side and the image of the crowd greeting her in Moscow on the other.<ref>[http://www.iasps.org/nbn/nbn353.htm Call Uncle Sam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726165417/http://www.iasps.org/nbn/nbn353.htm|date=July 26, 2011}} ''News Behind the News'', June 10, 2001</ref>

To her close friends, she admitted she had little to do in Moscow and felt isolated from Israeli politics.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> 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 the Russian Jews, as she would have been in their situation if her father had not moved to the United States.{{Source?|date=April 2025}} 

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 the Knesset until 1974.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

=== Labor Minister (1949–1956) ===
[[File:Evita y Golda Meir.jpg|thumb|Golda Meir and [[Eva Perón]] in Argentina, 1951.]][[File:The first meeting of the Israeli 3rd government.jpg|thumb|Golda Meir at first session of the [[Third government of Israel|third government]] (1951)]]
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.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

Instead, she took the role of [[Labour Minister of Israel|Labor Minister]], which she held from 10 March 1949 to 19 June 1956.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> Meir enjoyed this role much more than her previous, calling it her "seven beautiful years". In particular, she enjoyed the ability to act quickly and with little friction from others. She was also one of the most powerful Israeli politicians at the time.{{Source?|date=April 2025}} 

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 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.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

Meir assisted in building over a hundred [[ma'abarot]] ({{Langx|he|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 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.<ref name="Flatt, J.M.M.-2012" /><ref name="Medzini-2017" /> 

Meir considered herself highly productive during this period.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> She carried out welfare state policies, orchestrated the integration of immigrants into Israel's workforce,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.morim-madrichim.org/en/GetFile/r/3703/biographiesrosamadpdf?firstreq=1 |access-date=January 31, 2013 |publisher=Morim Madrichim}}{{Dead link|date=December 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> and introduced major housing and road construction projects.<ref name="micropedia">"Golda Meir", ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]],'' Micropædia, 1974, 15th edition, p. 762</ref> 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.<ref name="Flatt, J.M.M.-2012">{{Cite book |last=Flatt, J.M.M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqSckpZ4DGgC |title=Powerful Political Women: Stirring Biographies of Some of History's Most Powerful Women |date=2012 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9781462068197 |page=172 |access-date=December 3, 2014}}</ref> Despite the complaints of her colleagues in the Finance Ministry, Meir worked to establish [[Bituah Leumi|social security]], maternity benefits, work-related accident insurance, benefits to widows and orphans, and even burial costs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Reich, B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3D5FulN2WqQC |title=Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Biographical Dictionary |date=1990 |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=9780313262135 |page=329 |access-date=December 3, 2014}}</ref> 

In 1954, she sided with Ben-Gurion against [[Pinhas Lavon]] in the [[Lavon Affair]].<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> 

In the summer of 1955, Meir reluctantly [[Municipal elections in Israel|ran]] for the position of mayor of Tel Aviv on request of her party. At the time, mayors were elected by the city council and not directly. She lost by the two votes of the religious bloc who withheld their support on the grounds that she was a woman.<ref>''My Life''. p. 232. She 'wasn't very pleased' with B.G. and was 'enraged' by the religious bloc.</ref><ref>[https://en.idi.org.il/articles/10198 Dana Blander, "Elections for the Local Authority – Who, What, When, Where and How?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613015308/https://en.idi.org.il/articles/10198 |date=June 13, 2018 }}, first published in ''Parliament'', November 5, 2008, posted at Israel Democratic Institute; accessed August 21, 2018</ref> While angered by the sexism she encountered, she was happy to rejoin her colleagues in the cabinet.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

On 3 August 1955, she was again hospitalized after complaining of chest pains, and was diagnosed with arrhythmia.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

=== Foreign minister (1956–1966) ===
[[File:Kennedy-Golda Meir.jpg|upright|thumb|Meir with U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]], 27 December 1962.]]
In October 1955, Ben-Gurion appointed Meir as foreign minister, replacing Sharett. The occasional disagreements between Ben-Gurion and Sharett had escalated to snubbing in meetings and refusals to speak face-to-face. Meir, while less experienced in foreign affairs than Sharett, had a consistently loyal and friendly relationship with Ben-Gurion. While Meir eventually came to enjoy her new job, she disliked the lingering pro-Sharett colleagues in her department.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

Meir served as foreign minister from 18 June 1956 to 12 January 1966. Her first months as Foreign Minister coincided with the 1956 [[Suez Crisis]], in which Israel, Britain, and France invaded Egypt to regain Western control over the [[Suez Canal]], remove the [[President of Egypt]] [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]], and secure freedom of navigation through the [[Straits of Tiran]] for Israel.<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/history/pages/the%20arab-israeli%20wars.aspx The Arab-Israeli Wars, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs].  Retrieved March 21, 2015</ref> Meir planned and coordinated with the French government and military prior to the start of the invasion.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/isdf/text/golani.html ''Israel Studies An Anthology:  The Sinai War and Suez Crisis, 1956–7'', Motti Golani, 2010, Jewish Virtual Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629174708/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/isdf/text/golani.html |date=June 29, 2015 }}.  Retrieved March 21, 2015</ref> During United Nations debates about the crisis, Meir took charge of the Israeli delegation.<ref name="chronology" /> After the fighting started, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations forced the three invaders to withdraw.

As foreign minister, Meir promoted ties with the newly established states in Africa in an effort to gain allies in the international community.<ref name="micropedia" /> She also believed that Israel had experience in nation-building that could be a model for the Africans. In her autobiography, she wrote:<blockquote>Like them, we had shaken off foreign rule; like them, we had to learn for ourselves how to reclaim the land, how to increase the yields of our crops, how to irrigate, how to raise poultry, how to live together, and how to defend ourselves. Israel could be a role model because it had been forced to find solutions to the kinds of problems that large, wealthy, powerful states had never encountered.<ref>Golda Meir, ''My Life,'' (New York: Dell Publishing, 1975), pp. 308–09</ref></blockquote>She also devoted much effort to convincing the United States to sell Israel weaponry. One success in this area came in 1962, when the White House quietly agreed to sell Hawk missiles to Israel.<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> Israel's relationship with the Soviet Union remained frosty during her tenure.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

On 29 October 1957, Meir's foot was slightly injured when a [[Mills bomb]] was thrown into the debating chamber of the Knesset. David Ben-Gurion and [[Moshe Carmel]] were more seriously injured. The attack was carried out by 25-year-old [[Moshe Dwek]]. Born in [[Aleppo]], his motives were attributed to a dispute with the Jewish Agency, but he was described as being "mentally unbalanced".<ref>[[Robert William St. John]], ''Ben Gurion''. Jarrods Publishers (Hutchinson Group), London. 1959. pp. 304–306.</ref><!--According to LOC http://lccn.loc.gov/he67000388 this book is only 304 pages, so page number may be in error -->

In 1958, shortly after the death of [[Pope Pius XII]], Meir praised the late pope for assisting the Jewish people. The pontiff's legacy as a wartime pope has continued to be controversial into the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jewish Gratitude for the Help of Pope Pius XII Who helped them against the perverse regime of the Nazis |url=http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/judaism/gratitude.htm |access-date=September 2, 2011 |publisher=Catholic Apologetics |archive-date=October 2, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002115220/http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/judaism/gratitude.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:PikiWiki Israel 12883 Villa Harun A.- Rashid Jerusalem.jpg|thumb|Villa Harun Al Rashid, in [[Talbiya]], built in 1926 by a Palestinian, Hanna Bisharat, confiscated by the Israelis after 1948, and becoming Meir's residence during the 1960s]]

The same year, during the wave of Jewish migration from Poland to Israel, Meir sought to prevent disabled and sick Polish Jews from immigrating to Israel. In a letter sent to Israel's ambassador in Warsaw, [[Katriel Katz]], she wrote:
<blockquote>A proposal was raised in the coordination committee to inform the Polish government that we want to institute selection in aliyah, because we cannot continue accepting sick and handicapped people. Please give your opinion as to whether this can be explained to the Poles without hurting immigration."<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 9, 2009 |title=Golda Meir wanted to keep sick Poles from making aliyah |url=http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/09/1009622/golda-meir-wanted-to-prevent-sick-polish-olim |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212235802/http://jta.org/news/article/2009/12/09/1009622/golda-meir-wanted-to-prevent-sick-polish-olim |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |publisher=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |df=mdy}}</ref></blockquote>

In late 1965, 67-year-old Meir was diagnosed with [[lymphoma]].<ref name="Medzini-2017" /> In January 1966, she retired from her role as Foreign Minister, citing exhaustion and ill health, although she continued to serve in the Knesset and as secretary-general of Mapai.<ref name="micropedia" />

During the 1960s, Meir lived in a flat on the upper level of a house that was once known as Villa Harun al-Rashid. The house was built in 1926 by Hanna Bisharat and later rented to British officers. The house was later given to Zionist militias, due to the prominent view from the roof. According to Hanna Bisharat's grandson [[George Bisharat]], Meir had the tiles on the house's front sandblasted "to obliterate the 'Villa Harun ar-Rashid' and thereby conceal the fact that she was living in an Arab home."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2004-01-02/ty-article/the-family-never-lived-here/0000017f-dc8c-df9c-a17f-fe9cfa6c0000 |title='The Family Never Lived Here' |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |accessdate=2023-10-29 |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206010448/https://www.haaretz.com/2004-01-02/ty-article/the-family-never-lived-here/0000017f-dc8c-df9c-a17f-fe9cfa6c0000 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/5236 |title=How My Family Lost Their Home When Israel Took Over Palestinan Property in 1948 |date=May 18, 2004 |publisher=[[George Washington University]] |accessdate=2023-10-29 |archive-date=October 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029061701/https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/5236 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Premiership (1969–1974) ==
[[File:Dan Hadani collection (990044361270205171).jpg|thumb|upright|right|alt=PM Golda Meir during a visit Tel Aviv, July, 1969|PM Golda Meir in Tel Aviv, July, 1969]]
Prime Minister [[Levi Eshkol]] died suddenly on 26 February 1969, leading to the appointment of [[Yigal Allon]] as interim prime minister and an election to replace him.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/7/newsid_4205000/4205843.stm 1969: Israel elects first female leader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060106114742/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/7/newsid_4205000/4205843.stm |date=January 6, 2006 }} BBC News</ref><ref name="Consents">{{cite web |title=Golda Meir Consents to Lead Israel |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/377622415 |work=The Baltimore Sun |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=19 July 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |archive-date=July 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719213826/http://www.newspapers.com/image/377622415/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Before the vote, most suspected that Meir would be elected. On 7 March 1969, the party's central committee [[1969 Israeli Labor Party leadership election|voted Meir as the new party leader]]. Now age 71, Meir had mixed feelings due to her health concerns, but eventually agreed, saying that she would honor the party's decision just as she had honored all of the party's past decisions.<ref name="Consents"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kenig |first1=Ofer |title=Democratizing Party Leadership Selection in Israel: A Balance Sheet |journal=Israel Studies Forum |date=2009 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=62–81 |jstor=41805011 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41805011 |access-date=25 January 2022 |issn=1557-2455 |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601034907/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41805011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Party Chiefs Back Mrs. Mier; Thant Fears Suez Outburst |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/179905865 |publisher=The Philadelphia Inquirera |via=Newspapers.com |agency=The Associated Press |access-date=19 July 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=4 Mar 1969}}</ref>

Meir served as prime minister from 17 March 1969 to 3 June 1974. She maintained the national unity government formed in 1967 after the [[Six-Day War]], in which Mapai merged with two other parties ([[Rafi (political party)|Rafi]] and [[Ahdut HaAvoda]]) to form the [[Israeli Labor Party]].<ref name="micropedia" /> 

Six months after taking office, Meir led the [[Alignment (political party)#Second Alignment|reconfigured Alignment]], comprising [[Israeli Labor Party|Labor]] and [[Mapam]], into the [[1969 Israeli legislative election|1969 general election]]. The Alignment managed what is still the best showing for a single party or faction in Israeli history, winning 56 seats. This is the only time that a party or faction has approached winning an outright majority in an election. The national unity government was retained.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

In 1969 and the early 1970s, Meir met with many world leaders to promote her peace settlement idea, including [[Richard Nixon]] (1969), [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] (1972) and [[Pope Paul&nbsp;VI]] (1973). In 1973, she hosted the chancellor of West Germany, [[Willy Brandt]], in Israel.<ref name="micropedia" />

In August 1970, Meir accepted a U.S. peace initiative that called for an end to the [[War of Attrition]] and an Israeli pledge to withdraw to "secure and recognized boundaries" in the framework of a comprehensive peace settlement. The [[Gahal]] party quit the national unity government in protest, but Meir continued to lead the remaining coalition.<ref>"Golda Meir" ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Keter, Jerusalem, 1972, pp. 1242–44.</ref>

On February 28, 1973, during a visit in Washington, D.C., Meir agreed with [[Henry Kissinger]]'s peace proposal based on "security versus sovereignty": Israel would accept Egyptian sovereignty over all [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]], while [[Egypt]] would accept Israeli presence in some of Sinai's strategic positions.<ref name="Rabin1996p215" /><ref name="Kissinger2011p252" /><ref name="Kumaraswamy2013p105" /><ref name="Parker2001p64" /><ref name="Spiegel1986p237" />

==="There was no such thing as Palestinians"===
{{Main|There was no such thing as Palestinians}}
In June 1969, on the second anniversary of the [[Six-Day War]], Meir stated in an interview that "[[there was no such thing as Palestinians]]", a comment later described by [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] as "one of her defining – and most damning – legacies."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Said |first=Edward |date=1998 |title=Fifty years of dispossession |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/03064229808536356 |journal=Index on Censorship |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=76–82 |doi=10.1080/03064229808536356 |issn=0306-4220|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Soussi |first=Alasdair |date=2019-03-18 |title=The mixed legacy of Golda Meir, Israel's first woman PM |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/3/18/the-mixed-legacy-of-golda-meir-israels-first-female-pm |access-date=2024-02-17 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217004708/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2019/3/18/the-mixed-legacy-of-golda-meir-israels-first-female-pm |url-status=live }}</ref> This phrase is considered to be the most famous example of Israeli denial of [[Palestinians|Palestinian identity]].<ref name=Waxman>{{cite book |last= Waxman |first= D. |title= The Pursuit of Peace and the Crisis of Israeli Identity: Defending/Defining the Nation |page= 50 |publisher= Palgrave Macmillan US |year= 2006 |isbn= 978-1-4039-8347-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oUHIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |access-date= 2021-11-22 |archive-date= February 28, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230228184556/https://books.google.com/books?id=oUHIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |url-status= live }}</ref>

The interview entitled ''Who can blame Israel'' was published in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' on June 15, 1969, and included the following exchange:
* Frank Giles: Do you think the emergence of the Palestinian fighting forces, the [[Palestinian fedayeen|Fedayeen]], is an important new factor in the Middle East?
* Golda Meir: Important, no. A new factor, yes. There was no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either [[southern Syria]] before the First World War and then it was a Palestine including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country from them. They did not exist.<ref>{{cite news|author=Frank Giles|title = Golda Meir: 'Who can blame Israel'|newspaper=Sunday Times|date=June 15, 1969|page=12}}</ref>

===Munich Olympics (1972)===
{{Main|Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre}}
[[File:Nixons with Golda Meir.gif|thumb|upright|right|Meir (center) with [[Pat Nixon|Pat]] and President [[Richard Nixon]] in Washington, DC, in 1973.]]
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".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050316234049/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2Fcampaigns%2Fmiddle_east%2Fmidmun.xml Hostages killed in gun battle] ''Daily Telegraph'', September 5, 1972</ref> Outraged at the perceived lack of global action, she ordered the [[Mossad]] to hunt down and assassinate suspected leaders and operatives of [[Black September (group)|Black September]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine|PFLP]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=B. |url=https://archive.org/details/righteousvictims00morr_0 |title=Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–2000 |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=2001 |isbn=0-679-74475-4 |location=New York |orig-year=1999}}</ref>

===Dispute with Austria (1973)===
During the 1970s, about 200,000 Soviet Jewish emigrants were allowed to leave the [[Soviet Union]] for Israel by way of Austria. When seven of these emigrants [[Schoenau ultimatum|were taken hostage]] at the Austria–[[Czechoslovakia]] border by [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] militants in September 1973, the [[Chancellor of Austria]], [[Bruno Kreisky]], closed the Jewish Agency's transit facility in [[Schönau an der Triesting|Schönau]], Austria. A few days later in Vienna, Meir tried to convince Kreisky to reopen the facility by appealing to his own Jewish origin, and described his position as "succumbing to terrorist blackmail". Kreisky did not change his position, so Meir returned to Israel, infuriated.{{sfn|Avner|2010|page=219}} A few months later, Austria opened a new transition camp.<ref>Kathrin Bachleitner, "Golda Meir and Bruno Kreisky–A Political and Personal Duel." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 26-49.</ref>

===Yom Kippur War (1973)===
{{Main|Yom Kippur War}}
[[File:President Nixon, Henry Kissinger and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, meeting in the Oval Office 1973.gif|thumb|US President [[Richard Nixon]] and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir meeting on March 1, 1973, in the Oval Office. Nixon's National Security Advisor [[Henry Kissinger]] is to the right of Nixon.]]
A common criticism of Meir is that she could have avoided the [[Yom Kippur War]] in 1973. For months preceding the attack, Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]] made repeated overtures for peace in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai, but these gestures were rebuffed by Meir, who had offered previously to discuss ceding "most of the Sinai", but was not willing to restore the pre-1967 borders, and Egypt had no interest in peace talks under Meir's conditions.<ref name="TOIGM">{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-biopic-seeks-to-counter-notion-that-golda-chiefly-to-blame-for-yom-kippur-war/|title='Golda' biopic aims to counter notion that PM was chiefly to blame for Yom Kippur War|work=The Times of Israel|accessdate=28 August 2023|date=26 August 2023|archive-date=November 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128140255/https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-biopic-seeks-to-counter-notion-that-golda-chiefly-to-blame-for-yom-kippur-war/|url-status=live}}</ref> As the nation's leader during this short war, her main goal was deciding on the timing of preliminary operations, and providing the IDF with the necessary time and munitions to pull off a victory.<ref>Hagai Tsoref, "Golda Meir's Leadership in the Yom Kippur War." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 50-72.</ref> 

In the days leading up to the Yom Kippur War, Israeli intelligence could not conclusively determine that an attack was imminent. However, on 5 October 1973, Meir received information that Syrian forces were massing on the [[Golan Heights]]. She was alarmed by the reports, and believed that the situation was similar to what preceded the Six-Day War. However, her advisers counseled her not to worry, saying they would have adequate notice before any war broke out. This made sense at the time; after the [[Six Day War]], most in the Israeli intelligence community considered the Arabs unprepared to launch another attack.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Riedel |first1=Bruce |title=Enigma: The anatomy of Israel's intelligence failure almost 45 years ago |url=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/enigma-the-anatomy-of-israels-intelligence-failure-almost-45-years-ago/ |website=Brookings |publisher=Brookings Institution |access-date=29 August 2023 |date=25 September 2017 |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201053950/https://www.brookings.edu/articles/enigma-the-anatomy-of-israels-intelligence-failure-almost-45-years-ago/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Consequently, although the Knesset passed a resolution granting her power to demand a full-scale call-up of the military (instead of the typical cabinet decision), Meir did not mobilize Israel's forces early. Soon, though, the threat of war became very clear. Six hours before the outbreak of hostilities, Meir met with Minister of Defense [[Moshe Dayan]] and General [[David Elazar]]. While Dayan continued to argue that war was unlikely and favored calling up the air force and only two divisions, Elazar advocated full-scale army mobilization and the launch of a full-scale preemptive strike on Syrian forces.<ref>[http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/9565.html Interview with Abraham Rabinovich: The Yom Kippur War as a Turning Point] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209061821/http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/9565.html |date=December 9, 2008 }}, History News Network</ref>

On October 6, Meir approved full-scale mobilizing but rejected a preemptive strike, citing concerns that Israel might be perceived as initiating hostilities, which would hurt Israel's access to crucial foreign aid and military support, in particular from the United States, in the resulting conflict. She made it a priority to inform Washington of her decision. U.S. Secretary of State [[Henry Kissinger]] later confirmed Meir's assessment by stating that if Israel had launched a preemptive strike, Israel would not have received the backing of the United States.<ref name="Meir-1975"/><ref>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB98/octwar-10.pdf "The October War and U.S. Policy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617083329/http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB98/octwar-10.pdf |date=June 17, 2014 }}, National Security Archive, declassified archival records, George Washington University</ref>

===Resignation (1974)===
[[File:Голда Меїр.JPG|thumb|Golda Meir Memorial Plaque on the building where she was born (5-A Baseina Street, [[Kyiv]])]]
Following the Yom Kippur War, Meir's government was plagued by infighting and questions over Israel's lack of preparation for the war. The [[Agranat Commission]] appointed to investigate the war cleared Meir of "direct responsibility". It said about her actions on Yom Kippur morning:

{{quote|She decided wisely, with common sense and speedily, in favour of the full mobilization of the reserves, as recommended by the chief-of-staff, despite weighty political considerations, thereby performing a most important service for the defence of the state.<ref name="Meir-1975">{{Cite book |last=Meir |first=Golda |url=https://archive.org/details/mylifemeir00meir |title=My Life |publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons |year=1975 |isbn=9780399116698 |url-access=registration}}</ref>}}

Her party won the elections in December 1973, but the coalition lost seats and was unable to form a majority. Meir resigned as prime minister on 11 April 1974, and gave up her Knesset seat on 7 June 1974. She never held office again. She believed that was the "will of the people" and that she had served enough time as premier. She believed the government needed to form a coalition. She said, "Five years are sufficient&nbsp; ... It is beyond my strength to continue carrying this burden."<ref name="Meir-1975"/><ref>[http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/golda_meir_biography.htm Biography of Golda Meir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220042326/http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/golda_meir_biography.htm |date=December 20, 2007 }}, Zionism and Israel</ref> [[Yitzhak Rabin]] succeeded her on June 3, 1974.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

== After premiership and death (1974–1978) ==
In 1975, Meir published her autobiography, ''[[My Life (Meir autobiography)|My Life]]'', which became a [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''New York Times'' Best Seller]].<ref name="Meir-1975" /><ref>See Schmidt (2004) for a close reading.</ref>

On 21 November 1977, Meir spoke at the Knesset on behalf of the Labor Party to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat during his [[Anwar Sadat's visit to Jerusalem|historic trip]] as the first Arab leader to visit Israeli-controlled territory. She said his visit was important for the sake of the next generations' avoiding war, praised Sadat for his courage and vision, and expressed the hope that while many differences remained to be resolved, that vision would be achieved in a spirit of mutual understanding.<ref>[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/meirtosadat.html Remarks by Golda Meir to President Sadat in the Knesset] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220124055/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/meirtosadat.html |date=December 20, 2016 }}, Jewish Virtual Library</ref><ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-too-late-golda-meir-understood-how-war-could-have-been-avoided "Three years too late, Golda Meir understood how war could have been avoided"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117131752/http://www.timesofisrael.com/three-years-too-late-golda-meir-understood-how-war-could-have-been-avoided/ |date=November 17, 2016 }}, ''Times of Israel''</ref>

On 8 December 1978, Meir died of [[lymphatic cancer]] (lymphoma) in [[Jerusalem]] at the age of 80. She was buried on [[Mount Herzl]] in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mtwtDwAAQBAJ&dq=Mount+Herzl+golda+meir&pg=PT856 |title=''Golda Meir: a political biography'' |isbn=978-3-11-048979-8 |access-date=March 13, 2023 |archive-date=April 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420162601/https://books.google.com/books?id=mtwtDwAAQBAJ&dq=Mount%20Herzl%20golda%20meir&pg=PT856 |url-status=live |last1=Medzini |first1=Meron |date=April 26, 2017 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG }}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81288.stm Golda Meir] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629011637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/israel_at_50/profiles/81288.stm |date=June 29, 2006 }}, a BBC News profile.</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Golda Meir grave.JPG|thumb|upright|Golda Meir's grave on [[Mount Herzl]]]]
Meir's husband Morris Meyerson (also "Myerson") was born on 17 December 1893 in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. They married on December 24, 1917, and remained married until his death in Jerusalem on 25 May 1951. She never remarried. Despite never divorcing, the couple grew apart over the course of the marriage.<ref name="HA" /> When Meir took her children with her to the United States in the 1930s, Morris stayed behind in Jerusalem.{{Source?|date=April 2025}} 

Meir had two children.<ref name="jwa.org" /> Her son, Menachem, was born in Jerusalem in 1924 and died on 14 December 2014 in Tel Aviv. He was a professional cellist who studied at the Israel Conservatory and [[Manhattan School of Music]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Menahem MEIR 1924–2014 |url=http://www.seligman.org.il/webtrees/individual.php?pid=I4239&ged=Seligman%20Joffe%20Yachad%20Swartzman%20Gillis%20Sandman%20Lederman%20Fleishman.GED |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.seligman.org.il |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403232554/http://www.seligman.org.il/webtrees/individual.php?pid=I4239&ged=Seligman%20Joffe%20Yachad%20Swartzman%20Gillis%20Sandman%20Lederman%20Fleishman.GED |url-status=live }}</ref> Her daughter Sarah was born on 17 May 1926 and died on 30 January 2010 in [[Revivim]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sarah MEIR 1926–2010 |url=http://www.seligman.org.il/webtrees/individual.php?pid=I4247&ged=Seligman%20Joffe%20Yachad%20Swartzman%20Gillis%20Sandman%20Lederman%20Fleishman.GED |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.seligman.org.il |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403232555/http://www.seligman.org.il/webtrees/individual.php?pid=I4247&ged=Seligman%20Joffe%20Yachad%20Swartzman%20Gillis%20Sandman%20Lederman%20Fleishman.GED |url-status=live }}</ref> 

She had two sisters, Sheyna (1889–1972) and Tzipke (1902–1981), as well as five other siblings who died in childhood.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

Morris, [[Sheyna Korngold]] and her husband Shamai were buried on [[Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery]] in [[Givatayim]].{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

In 1956, after becoming Foreign Minister, she changed her surname from "Meyerson" to "Meir", meaning "illuminate", as her predecessor Moshe Sharett had all members of the foreign service [[Hebraization of surnames|take a Hebrew surname]].{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

She was a heavy smoker and coffee drinker, and did not exercise often, which may have contributed to her recurring heart problems.<ref name="Medzini-2017" />

Of her Jewish identity, Meir said in the 1975 edition of her autobiography ''[[My Life (Meir autobiography)|My Life]]'' that:<blockquote>It is not only a matter, I believe, of religious observance and practice. To me, being Jewish means and has always meant being proud to be part of a people that has maintained its distinct identity for more than 2,000 years, with all the pain and torment that has been inflicted upon it.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Golda Meir |title=My Life |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |year=1975 |isbn=0860073947 |page=459}}</ref></blockquote>

She strongly identified with Judaism culturally, but was an atheist in religious belief.<ref>Giulio Meotti (2011). ''A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism''. p. 147. {{ISBN|9781459617414}}. "Even atheist and socialist Israelis like David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and Golda Meir were marked by the stories and legends of King David and the prophets. In other words, their lives had been shaped by Hebron."</ref><ref>Fischer, Raymond Robert. ''Israel My Inheritance: Persecuted Messianic Jews Cry Out for Justice and Reform.'' Lake Mary: Creation House, 2011. Print.</ref><ref>See [[Emma Goldman]], "The Philosophy of Atheism", in [[Christopher Hitchens]], ed., ''[[The Portable Atheist]]'' (Philadelphia: Da Capo Press, 2007), 129–133; Golda Meir is quoted by [[Jonathan Rosen]] in "So Was It Odd of God?", ''The New York Times'', December 14, 2003.</ref> She is famously reported to have stated: "I believe in the Jewish people, and the Jewish people believe in God."<ref>{{cite news |last=Rosen |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Rosen |date=December 14, 2003 |title=So Was It Odd of God? |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/books/so-was-it-odd-of-god.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=December 22, 2018 |quote=He seems to subscribe to Golda Meir's observation: 'I believe in the Jewish people, and the Jewish people believe in God.'&thinsp; |archive-date=July 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727212320/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/books/so-was-it-odd-of-god.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> In her later years she widened her religious attitude, especially concerning the State of Israel: "This country exists as the fulfillment of a promise made by God himself. It would be ridiculous to ask it to account for its legitimacy."<ref>{{cite news |last=Fontaine |first=André |date=October 15, 1971 |title=Le "test" étant la signature de le paix. "Il serait ridicule de demander aux Arabes la reconnaissance de la légitimité de l'État d'Israël" nous déclare Mme Golda Méïr |newspaper=[[Le Monde]] |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1971/10/15/le-test-etant-la-signature-de-la-paix-il-serait-ridicule-de-demander-aux-arabes-la-reconnaissance-de-la-legitimite-de-l-etat-d-israel-nous-declare-mme-golda-meir_3065269_1819218.html |access-date=August 11, 2024 |quote=Ce pays existe comme accomplissement d’une promesse faite par Dieu lui-même. Il serait ridicule de lui demander des comptes sur sa légitimité.}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==
In 1974, Meir was awarded the honor of World Mother by American Mothers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Past National Mothers of The Year |url=http://www.americanmothers.org/past-national-mothers-of-the-year |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323130748/http://www.americanmothers.org/past-national-mothers-of-the-year |archive-date=March 23, 2011}}</ref>
In 1974 Meir was awarded the [[James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service]] by [[Princeton University]]'s [[American Whig–Cliosophic Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UN Secretariat Item: Letter – The American Whig-Cliosophic Society : James Madison Award for Distinguished Public Service – 1974 – Golda Meir |url=http://archives-trim.un.org/webdrawer/rec/552938/view/Item-in-KAA%20Schoolsuniversities%202002%20-%20oct.%20-%20dec..PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121226142153/http://archives-trim.un.org/webdrawer/rec/552938/view/Item-in-KAA%20Schoolsuniversities%202002%20-%20oct.%20-%20dec..PDF |archive-date=December 26, 2012 |access-date=November 25, 2012 |publisher=Archives-trim.un.org}}</ref>

In 1975, Meir was awarded the [[Israel Prize]] for her special contribution to society and the State of Israel.<ref name="Meir-1975"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel Prize Official Site – Recipients in 1975 (in Hebrew) |url=http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashlag/Tashmab_Tashlag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashlah |access-date=September 6, 2009 |archive-date=March 29, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050329110754/http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashlag/Tashmab_Tashlag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashlah |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1985, Meir was inducted into the [[Colorado Women's Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/golda-meir/ |title=Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, Golda Meir |access-date=December 1, 2019 |archive-date=June 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603145745/https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/golda-meir/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Golda Meir with children of Kibbutz Shfayim.jpg|thumb|Meir with children of Kibbutz [[Shfayim]], 1950]]

Biographer Meron Medzini argues that a perspective of forty years makes possible an appreciation of her deep nationalism and Zionism. Historians find her main legacy includes effective leadership of the Labor Movement, and building good relationships with Third World nations. Medzini states, "Apart from laying the foundations for Israel’s presence in Africa, she was never taken with the routine and often dull diplomatic work in the Foreign Ministry and abhorred its outer manifestations of ceremonies and rites."<ref>Medzini, (2017) p. 685.</ref> Most historians agree she was a success as Secretary of Labor and Housing, but a failure as prime minister.<ref name="Meron Medzini">Meron Medzini, "Golda Meir–A Forty Year Perspective." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 73-85. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.04 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903043502/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.04 |date=September 3, 2021 }}</ref>

A controversial figure in Israel, she 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 1973 Yom Kippur War. She was also criticized for her dismissive statements towards the Palestinians.<ref name="TOIGM"/>

===Portrayals in film and theater===
[[File:PikiWiki Israel 15637 Performing arts Center in Tel Aviv.JPG|thumb|Facade of the Golda Meir Center for the Performing Arts – home to the [[Israeli Opera]] and the [[Cameri Theater]], Tel Aviv]]

Meir's story has been the subject of many fictionalized portrayals. In 1977, [[Anne Bancroft]] played Meir in [[William Gibson (playwright)|William Gibson]]'s Broadway play ''Golda''. The Australian actress [[Judy Davis]] played a young Meir in the [[made-for-television|television]] film ''[[A Woman Called Golda]]'' (1982), opposite [[Leonard Nimoy]]. [[Ingrid Bergman]] played the older Meir in the same film. Actress [[Colleen Dewhurst]] portrayed Meir in the 1986 TV movie ''[[Sword of Gideon]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Filmography for Colleen Dewhurst |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/49658%7C33638/colleen-dewhurst#filmography |access-date=February 1, 2018 |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325092643/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/49658%7C33638/Colleen-Dewhurst/filmography.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2003, [[American Jews|American Jewish]] actress [[Tovah Feldshuh]] portrayed her on Broadway in ''[[Golda's Balcony]]'', Gibson's second play about Meir's life. The play was controversial for implying that Meir considered using [[Nuclear weapons and Israel|nuclear weapons]] during the Yom Kippur War.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} [[Valerie Harper]] portrayed Meir in the touring company production and in the film version of ''Golda's Balcony''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gans |first=Andrew |date=October 10, 2007 |title='Golda's Balcony' Film, with Valerie Harper, Begins Engagement at Quad Cinema Oct. 10 |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/goldas-balcony-film-with-valerie-harper-begins-engagement-at-quad-cinema-oct-10-com-144395 |access-date=February 1, 2018 |website=Playbill |language=en |archive-date=February 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202071641/http://www.playbill.com/article/goldas-balcony-film-with-valerie-harper-begins-engagement-at-quad-cinema-oct-10-com-144395 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2005, actress [[Lynn Cohen]] portrayed Meir in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s film ''[[Munich (2005 film)|Munich]]''.{{Source?|date=April 2025}}

Tovah Feldshuh assumed the role of Meir again in the 2006 English-language French movie ''[[O Jerusalem (film)|O Jerusalem]]''. She was played by the Polish actress Beata Fudalej in the 2009 dramatic film ''The Hope'' directed by [[Márta Mészáros]].<ref>[http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=43441&Category= "Mészáros wraps production on historical drama The Hope"] ''Screen Daily''. February 26, 2009</ref>

English actor [[Helen Mirren]] portrayed Meir in the 2023 biopic film ''[[Golda (film)|Golda]]'', directed by [[Guy Nattiv]] and produced by [[Michael Kuhn]]. The film centres on the [[Yom Kippur War]].<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://variety.com/2021/film/global/helen-mirren-golda-meir-michael-kuhn-1234944737/|title = Helen Mirren to Star as Israeli Leader Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv's 'Golda,' Produced by Michael Kuhn|date = April 6, 2021|access-date = April 6, 2021|archive-date = April 6, 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210406195918/https://variety.com/2021/film/global/helen-mirren-golda-meir-michael-kuhn-1234944737/|url-status = live}}</ref>

As of April 2021, a TV miniseries ''Lioness'' starring [[Shira Haas]] is also currently being produced and will be directed by [[Barbra Streisand]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=JTA|title=Shira Haas to play Golda Meir in US TV series|url=https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/shira-haas-to-play-golda-meir-in-us-tv-series/|access-date=2021-04-06|website=jewishnews.timesofisrael.com|date=March 6, 2021|language=en-US|archive-date=April 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418122946/https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/shira-haas-to-play-golda-meir-in-us-tv-series/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Commemoration===
[[File:Golda Meir Square NYC 2007 006.jpg|thumb|Golda Meir Square in Manhattan]]
[[File:Golda Meir @ Banknote 1992 Obverse.jpg|thumb|Israeli 10 [[Israeli new shekel|New Sheqalim]] Banknote commemorating Golda Meir]]
* Golda Meir House Museum and Education Center, Auraria Campus, 1149 9t Street, Denver CO 80204{{Source?|date=April 2025}}
* [[Golda Meir School]], [[Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]]<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1434 Fourth Street School] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329235620/https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1434 |date=March 29, 2020 }} Wisconsin Historical Society</ref>
* Golda Meir School, in Barra da Tijuca, [[Rio de Janeiro|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unidades Escolares |url=http://webapp.sme.rio.rj.gov.br/jcartela/publico/pesquisa.do?palavraChave=barra+da+tijuca&cmd=listPorBairro |access-date=March 15, 2018 |publisher=Government of Rio de Janeiro |archive-date=March 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316024034/http://webapp.sme.rio.rj.gov.br/jcartela/publico/pesquisa.do?palavraChave=barra+da+tijuca&cmd=listPorBairro |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries|Golda Meir Library]], [[University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee]], Wisconsin<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hubbard |first=John |title=Frequently Asked Questions: Library Information |url=http://guides.library.uwm.edu/c.php?g=56459&p=363132 |access-date=March 15, 2018 |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee |language=en |archive-date=February 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212032633/http://guides.library.uwm.edu/c.php?g=56459&p=363132 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Golda Meir Boulevard, Jerusalem, Israel (and various other streets, neighborhoods and schools in Israel){{Source?|date=April 2025}}
* [[Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center|Golda Meir Center for the Performing Arts]] – home to the [[Israeli Opera]] and the [[Cameri Theater]], Tel Aviv<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golda Center – Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center |url=http://zmatar.com/projects/golda-center-tel-aviv-performing-arts-center/ |access-date=March 15, 2018 |publisher=Zeev Matar Ltd. – זאב מטר בע"מ |language=en-US |archive-date=March 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315053800/http://zmatar.com/projects/golda-center-tel-aviv-performing-arts-center/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Bust of Golda Meir]] at Golda Meir Square, New York City<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jerold S. Kayden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OpeNSAfYASoC |title=Privately Owned Public Space: The New York City Experience |last2=New York (N.Y.). Dept. of City Planning |last3=The Municipal Art Society of New York |date=November 6, 2000 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-36257-9 |page=126}}</ref>
* Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership at [[Metropolitan State University of Denver]]<ref name="chronology" />
* Golda Meir House, Denver, Colorado<ref name="chronology" /><ref>[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.co0203 Golda Meir House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610203446/http://loc.gov/pictures/item/co0203/ |date=June 10, 2020 }} U.S. Library of Congress</ref>
* Golda Meir House, Newton, Massachusetts<ref>{{Cite web |title=Golda Meir House |url=http://www.jche.org/golda-meir-house.shtml |access-date=March 15, 2018 |publisher=Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly |language=en |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703233554/http://www.jche.org/golda-meir-house.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Golda Meir Street in the city of [[Kyiv]]<ref>{{cite web|title=A street named after the dissident Vasyl Ovsienko appeared in Kyiv|url=https://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2024/02/8/163630/|date=8 February 2024|access-date=9 February 2024|lang=Ukrainian|website=[[Istorychna Pravda]]|archive-date=February 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208173031/https://www.istpravda.com.ua/short/2024/02/8/163630/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cultural references===
In Israel, the term "Golda's shoes" (''na'alei Golda'') has become a reference to the sturdy orthopedic shoes that Golda favored. These shoes were also supplied to women soldiers in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] from its foundation to 1987.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 11, 1987 |title=Israel's Women GIs Kick Off 'Golda Shoes' |work=Los Angeles Times |agency=AP |location=Tel Aviv |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-11-mn-3590-story.html |access-date=October 3, 2013 |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224337/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-11/news/mn-3590_1_shoes |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Published works==
* ''This Is Our Strength'' (1962) – Golda Meir's collected papers{{Source?|date=April 2025}}
* ''My Father's House'' (1972){{Source?|date=April 2025}}
* ''[[My Life (Meir autobiography)|My Life]]'' (1975). [[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]], {{ISBN|0-399-11669-9}}.

==See also==
{{portal|Government|Socialism|Israel|United States|Biography}}
* [[Évian Conference]]
* [[List of Israel Prize recipients]]
* [[List of prime ministers of Israel]]
* [[List of elected and appointed female heads of state and government]]
{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Rabin1996p215">{{Cite book |last=Yitzhak Rabin |title=The Rabin Memoirs |title-link=The Rabin Memoirs |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20766-0 |page=215 |quote=security versus sovereignty ... Israel would have to accept Egyptian sovereignty over all the Sinai, while Egypt, in turn, would have to accept Israeli military presence in certain [Sinai] strategic positions.}}</ref>

<ref name="Kissinger2011p252">{{Cite book |last=Henry Kissinger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LR6lXXiCxgQC&pg=PT252 |title=Years of Upheaval |date=May 24, 2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4516-3647-5 |pages=252– |quote="She (Golda Meir) would be prepared to have me (Kissinger) continue to explore in private with Hafiz Ismail (the Egyptian delegate) some general principles of an overall settlement" this hint is compatible with Rabin description of Golda readiness for recognizing Egyptian sovereignty in Sinai}}</ref>

<ref name="Kumaraswamy2013p105">{{Cite book |last=P.R. Kumaraswamy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R_YrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA105 |title=Revisiting the Yom Kippur War |date=January 11, 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-32888-6 |pages=105– |quote="In February 1973, Kissinger held talks with Sadat's National Security Advisor, Hafez Ismail. ... memoirs that Kissinger told him that, on the basis of his conversations with Hafez Ismail, Egypt might be ready to start negotiating if Israel acknowledged Egyptian sovereignty over all of Sinai. Rabin consulted with Prime Minister Golda Meir and told Kissinger that Israel authorized him to explore this approach."}}</ref>

<ref name="Parker2001p64">{{Cite book |last=Richard Bordeaux Parker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2Fg42KYia4C&pg=PA64 |title=The October War: A Retrospective |publisher=University Press of Florida |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8130-1853-9 |pages=64– |quote=Dinits evidence |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-date=July 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703040106/https://books.google.com/books?id=U2Fg42KYia4C&pg=PA64 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Spiegel1986p237">{{Cite book |last=Steven L. Spiegel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mA6R4gJ9YUUC&pg=PA237 |title=The Other Arab-Israeli Conflict: Making America's Middle East Policy, from Truman to Reagan |date=October 15, 1986 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-76962-2 |pages=237– |quote=based on Rabin |access-date=June 27, 2015 |archive-date=July 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240703040107/https://books.google.com/books?id=mA6R4gJ9YUUC&pg=PA237#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

}}

==Sources==
* {{Cite book |last=Avner |first=Yehuda |title=The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership |title-link=The Prime Ministers |date=2010 |publisher=[[Toby Press]] |isbn=978-1-59264-278-6 |oclc=758724969 |author-link=Yehuda Avner}}
* {{Cite book |last=Burkett |first=Elinor |title=Golda Meir: The Iron Lady of the Middle East |publisher=Gibson Square |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-906142-13-1 |author-link=Elinor Burkett}}
* Medzini, Meron. "Golda Meir–A Forty Year Perspective." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 73-85. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.04 online]

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Agrees |first=Elijahu |url=https://archive.org/details/goldameirportrai00agre |title=Golda Meir: Portrait of a Prime Minister |publisher=Sabra Books |year=1969 |isbn=0-87631-020-X}}
*Bachleitner, Kathrin. "Golda Meir and Bruno Kreisky–A Political and Personal Duel." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 26-49. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.02 online]; in 1973 she clashed with leader of Austria regarding Palestinian terrorist attacks against Jewish transit through Vienna.
* {{Cite book |last=Fallaci |first=Oriana |url=https://archive.org/details/interviewwithhis00fall |title=Interview With History |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |year=1976 |isbn=0-395-25223-7 |author-link=Oriana Fallaci}}
* {{Cite book |last=Klagsbrun |first=Francine |title=Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel |publisher=Schocken Books |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-80524-237-9}}, a standard scholarly biography; [https://www.amazon.com/Lioness-Golda-Meir-Nation-Israel/dp/0805211934/ excerpt]
* Lahav, Pnina. "“A Great Episode in the History of Jewish Womanhood”: Golda Meir, the Women Workers' Council, Pioneer Women, and the Struggle for Gender Equality." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 1-25. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/israelstudies.23.1.01 online]
* {{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Ralph G. |title=Golda Meir: The Romantic Years |publisher=Ivy Books |year=1988 |isbn=0-8041-0536-7}}, popular [https://archive.org/details/goldagoldameirro00mart online]
* {{Cite book |last=Meir |first=Menahem |url=https://archive.org/details/mymothergoldamei00meir |title=My Mother Golda Meir: A Son's Evocation of Life With Golda Meir |publisher=Arbor House Publishing Company |year=1983 |isbn=0-87795-415-1}}
* Medzini, Meron. ''Golda Meir: A Political Biography'' (2017) [https://www.amazon.com/Adjunct-Associate-Professor-History-Medzini/dp/3110487349/ excerpt]; a standard scholarly biography
* Medzini, Meron. ''Golda Meir: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works'' (2020) [https://www.amazon.com/Golda-Meir-Reference-Significant-Figures/dp/1538122871/ excerpt]
* Skard, Torild (2014) "Golda Meir" in ''Women of Power – Half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide''. Bristol: Policy Press, {{ISBN|978-1-44731-578-0}}.
* Steinberg, Blema S. ''Women in power: The personalities and leadership styles of Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, and Margaret Thatcher'' (McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2008).
* {{Cite book |last=Syrkin |first=Marie |title=Golda Meir: Israel's Leader |url=https://archive.org/details/goldameirisraels00syrk |url-access=registration |publisher=[[G. P. Putnam's Sons|Putnam]] |year=1969}}, highly flattering
* {{Cite book |last=Syrkin |first=Marie |title=Golda Meir: Woman with a Cause |year=1963}}
* Tsoref, Hagai. "Golda Meir's Leadership in the Yom Kippur War." ''Israel Studies'' 23.1 (2018): 50-72. [http://goldameir.org.il/files/Documents/PM/Tsoref__Golda_Meir_s_Leadership_in_the_Yom_Kippur_War__Isreal_Studies_v_23_no_1_2018_pp_50_72.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903042331/http://goldameir.org.il/files/Documents/PM/Tsoref__Golda_Meir_s_Leadership_in_the_Yom_Kippur_War__Isreal_Studies_v_23_no_1_2018_pp_50_72.pdf |date=September 3, 2021 }}
* Weitz, Yechiam. "Golda Meir, Israel's Fourth Prime Minister (1969–74)." ''Middle Eastern Studies'' 47.1 (2011): 43-61. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/27920340 online]

===Historiography===
* Schmidt, Sarah. "Hagiography in the diaspora: Golda Meir and her biographers." ''American Jewish History'' 92.2 (2004): 157-188. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/23887352 online]

==External links==
{{sister project links|auto=yes}}
* {{MKlink|id=685}}
* [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/State/Golda%20Meir Golda Meir] at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061001232300/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/golda.html Meir, Golda (née Mabovitch; 1898–1978)] at the Jewish Agency For Israel
* [http://www.wic.org/bio/gmeir.htm Women's International Center]
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.642178.r1|name=Golda Meir Interview (Reel 1 of 2) (1973)}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.642178.r2|name=Golda Meir Interview (Reel 2 of 2) (1973)}}
* [http://jewishhistorylectures.org/2013/04/15/golda-meir-and-the-foundations-of-israel/ Video Lecture on Golda Meir] by [[Henry Abramson]]
*[http://www.archives.mod.gov.il/sites/English/Exhibitions/Pages/Golda-Meir.aspx Prime Minister Golda Meir, Exhibition in the IDF&Defense establishment archives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329235620/http://www.archives.mod.gov.il/sites/English/Exhibitions/Pages/Golda-Meir.aspx |date=March 29, 2020 }}
* [http://www.shapell.org/Collection/Jewish-Figures/Meir-Golda Golda Meir Personal Manuscripts], Shapell Manuscript Foundation
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180331030316/http://mctc.co.il/ The Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center] (MCTC) – established in 1961 to assist in the training of women engaged in community work in the newly emerging states in Africa and Asia

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Moshe Sharett]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|years=1956–1966}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Abba Eban]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Levi Eshkol]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Israel]]|years=1969–1974}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yitzhak Rabin]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Haim-Moshe Shapira]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Interior (Israel)|Minister of Internal Affairs]]|years=1970}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yosef Burg]]}}
|-
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Levi Eshkol]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Leader of the [[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]]|years=1969–1974}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yitzhak Rabin]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{IsraelPMS}}
{{IsraelForeignMin}}
{{Israeli Ministers of Interior}}
{{Israeli Labour Ministers}}
{{Colorado Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meir, Golda}}
[[Category:Golda Meir| ]]
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