Meir, Golda (redirected from Goldie Mabovitch)

Meir, Golda (māēr`), 1898–1978, Israeli political leader, b. Kiev, Russia, originally named Golda Mabovitch. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1906, settling in Milwaukee. She became a school teacher and early involved herself in the Zionist labor movement. In 1921 she and her husband, Morris Meyerson (the name was hebraized to Meir in 1956), emigrated to Palestine. She joined the Palestine labor movement and became (1936) head of the political department of the Histadrut (General Federation of Jewish Labor). After Israeli independence was achieved (1948), she served as minister to Moscow, minister of labor (1949–56), and foreign minister (1956–66). She became secretary-general of the Mapai party (later the Labor party) in 1966. On the death (1969) of Levi Eshkol, Meir became interim prime minister pending elections, but she retained her post after the elections were held (Oct., 1969). As prime minister she maintained a difficult coalition at home, while negotiating abroad with the hostile Arab nations and with the United States. In 1971 she managed to defeat a "no-confidence" vote in parliament engineered by opposition members on the grounds that she had made excessive concessions to Egypt in peace negotiations. Despite criticism, however, she retained tremendous personal popularity. In Oct., 1973, she rallied Israeli forces following a surprise combined Egyptian-Syrian offensive (see Arab-Israeli Wars). After the hostilities ceased, her government, particularly defense minister Moshe Dayan, was criticized for its unpreparedness. After two unsuccessful attempts to form a new coalition government, she resigned in Apr., 1974, and left office in May.

Bibliography

See her This Is Our Strength: Selected Papers, ed. by H. M. Christman (1962), and A Land of Our Own: An Oral Autobiography, ed. by M. Syrkin (1973); biographies by E. Agres (1969) and P. Mann (1971).

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Meir, Golda

 orig. Goldie Mabovitch later Goldie Myerson

Golda Meir

(credit: Dennis Brack/Black Star)

(born May 3, 1898, Kiev, Russian Empire—died Dec. 8, 1978, Jerusalem) Ukrainian-born Israeli stateswoman, fourth prime minister of Israel (1969–74). Her family immigrated to Milwaukee, Wis., U.S., in 1906, where she became a leader of the Milwaukee Labor Zionist Party. In 1921 she and her husband immigrated to Palestine, where she emerged as a forceful negotiator with British authorities during World War II (1939–45). A signer of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, she served in the Knesset (parliament; 1949–74) and held the posts of minister of labour (1949–56) and foreign minister (1956–66). As prime minister, she sought diplomatic solutions to ease the region's tensions. The failure of her government to anticipate an Arab attack during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 (see Arab-Israeli wars) led her to resign six months later.

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Meir, Golda (b. Golda Mabovitch) (1898–1978) Israeli politician; born in Kiev, Ukraine. She emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1906 and became a teacher and Zionist activist in Milwaukee. She emigrated to Palestine in 1921 after her marriage to Morris Myerson (she Hebraized her married name in 1956) and worked as a Zionist and labor activist. Elected to the Israeli parliament in 1949, she held labor (1949–56) and foreign affairs (1956–66) cabinet portfolios and was Israel's fourth prime minister (1969–74). Although credited with strengthening Israel through immigration policies and construction programs, she was forced to resign in the wake of Israel's losses in the October 1973 war.