orig. Goldie Mabovitch later Goldie Myerson
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.
Golda Meir
Dennis Brack
Black Star/EB Inc.