Golda Meir

Golda Meir ; , ; .|group=nb}} (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government, the first female head of government in the Middle East, and the fourth elected female head of government or state in the world. She has been described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, with a reputation for being down-to-earth and a persuasive speaker.

Born in Kyiv in the Russian Empire, Meir immigrated to Wisconsin, United States as a child with her family in 1906. She graduated from the 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 emigrated to Mandatory Palestine, settling in kibbutz Merhavia. She later became the kibbutz's representative to the Histadrut, and in 1934 she was elevated to the executive committee of the trade union. She held several key roles in the Jewish Agency during the Second World War. In 1946, after British authorities arrested Moshe Sharett and other leaders of the Yishuv, Meir became the acting head of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency. 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 until 1956, when she was appointed 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 diplmatic ventures in order to promote peace in the Middle East. The outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in 1973 caught the nation off guard and inflicted severe early losses on the Israelis. The resulting public anger damaged Meir's reputation and led to an inquiry into the failings of the Israel Defense Forces. Her Alignment coalition was denied a majority in the 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. Provided by Wikipedia