Golda Meir (redirected from Golda Mabovitz)

Meir, Golda 

(Golda Myerson). Born Apr. 21 (May 3), 1898, in Kiev. Israeli statesman and political leader.

Meir emigrated to the USA with her family in 1906. After graduating from the Teachers’ Training College in Milwaukee, she taught English in the public schools. She was active in the Zionist movement in the USA and in Palestine, where she emigrated in 1921. From 1926 to 1946, Meir held various important positions in the trade union association Histadrut (General Federation of Labor). She worked in the Jewish Agency, an international organization representing Zionist interests in Palestine, from 1946 to 1948.

In 1948–49, Meir served as Israeli minister to the USSR. She was Israel’s minister of labor and social security from 1949 to 1952, minister of labor from 1952 to 1956, and foreign minister from 1956 to 1966. From 1966 to 1968 she served as general secretary of the Mapai (Israel Workers’ Party), a Zionist rightwing socialist party. Meir was prime minister of Israel from March 1969 to April 1974. Relying on the support of international Zionist circles and imperialist forces in the USA and Western Europe, her government pursued an expansionist policy toward the Arab countries. Meir became vice-president of the Socialist International in June 1972.