Who Was Golda Meir? First Woman Prime Minister In The Middle East

Golda Meir was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 3, 1898, and passed away in Jerusalem on December 8, 1978. She was the first female Prime Minister of Israel, and also the first female occupant of the role in the entire Middle East. Meir signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence, becoming the first female head of state in the Middle East, and served as prime minister of Israel from 1969 until 1974.

"Whether women are better than men I cannot say—but I can say they are certainly no worse."

Meir's Early Life

In 1906, the family migrated to Milwaukee to escape persecution as Jews. Golda Meir assisted in starting a club to generate funds to assist households in purchasing textbooks when the Milwaukee School Board revealed plans in 1908 mandating brand-new textbooks. They hired a venue and held a fundraiser, during which Meir read two poems in Yiddish and gave a speech.

She obtained US citizenship by naturalisation in 1917. Her Zionist engagement had an impact on her, and she was resolved to go to Palestine.  

Meir's Political Experience 

She was appointed Israel's first Minister to the Soviet Union in 1948. She served as minister for seven months before returning to Israel in 1949 to take up the position of minister of labour. She rose to the second-highest position in the cabinet in 1956 when she was appointed Foreign Minister, a post she held until her retirement in 1965. In 1956, Meir adopted the name "Meir" instead of "Meyerson."

Meir became the fourth prime minister of Israel after Prime Minister Levi Eshkol passed away suddenly in 1969. She was the third woman to govern a country in the 20th century. Meir was chosen as the leader of Israel's Labor Party.

During the turbulent period of her administration, eleven Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics, and on October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel, sparking the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Although the Israeli soldiers managed to retake the attack, they sustained almost two thousand losses.

One of her main battles was to impose a regular tax that all workers, whatever their wage, would have to pay. The money raised would go toward helping the unemployed. She succeeded in creating a fund for jobless benefits known as Mifdeh, or "redemption," which supported numerous families.

Meir gave up politics in 1974. At eighty, she lost her life to lymphatic carcinoma in 1978. One of her alleged regrets is that, instead of listening to military intelligence specialists who advised against mobilizing, she disregarded her gut and called up the reserves a few days before the Yom Kippur War. However, she earned the title 'Iron Lady' because of her steely leadership during the war.