Golda Meir
In history, great women leaders have come out at various times and in many places on the earth. They have dealt with diverse circumstances and taken up many causes, but all were able to meet and overcome the challenges they met and in so doing encourage and approve generations of other women. (Review: Great Women Leaders) When the word 'greatness' comes to mind, Golda Meir comes instantly to the front. Her dedication to her land and to her people was the model of human devotion. Her full concern, tempered with love, excited by severe dedication, made the world know that she was a true mover of mountains. (Golda Meir: www.wic.org) In this paper the emphasis is on a significant feature of Golda Meir - about the human side of her leadership. We shall first have a general overview of her background and her rise to political leadership.In 1898, Golda Meir was born in Kiev. Her family was compelled to migrate to the United States in 1906 due to poverty and they settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Again she migrated to British Mandate Palestine in 1921 with her husband, Morris Myerson, and settled in Kibbutz Merhavya. In 1924, after moving to Tel Aviv, she became an officer of the Histadrut Trade U
When Israel got Independence on May 14, 1948, Meir was one of the signatories of the Israel's declaration of independence. She was then chosen as Israel's minister to the Soviet Union. In 1949 she was elected to the Israel's parliament, Knesset, where she stayed for the next 25 years. Meir held quite a lot of positions in the new government. As minister of labor in Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's cabinet from 1949 to 1956, she initiated legislation to improve housing, education, and insurance. In 1956 she became foreign minister, and by meeting with many world leaders she expanded Israel's sway in the world. By the time Meir was Israel's fourth prime minister in 1969; she had over 45 years of political experience. She was a substitute option; the two other candidates, Moshe Dayan and Yigal Allon, would have separated the country. As Prime Minister Meir demonstrated to be a strong coalescing force for Israel; she was never outvoted among her cabinet on most important matters. The people saw her as a kind of Mother Courage, exuding poise and trust, the very epitome of the Jews' will to carry on as a people in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust and in the face of repeated Arab attacks. (Golda Meir - 1898-1978: Israeli political leader) She was good at her language. She could speak Hebrew, English or Yiddish. Her audience also encompassed different kinds of people. Through her words, she could enter into the hearts of people and change them. Her appearance on stage for a speech presented an impressive and commanding character, which generated an environment of poise and trust, producing a world where enthusiasm got swapped with panic. She can make her political stand crystal clear by using simple but powerful words. Some examples are: "We do not wish to rule over a million Arabs who do not want us to"; "The Arabs have become so rich, they can buy anything - even anti-Semitism"; that "we shall never forgive the Arabs for forcing us to educate our children to fight them back." (Always a Lioness, Protecting Her Beloved Israel) Simultaneously, the clear voice of peace and motherhood could be expressively uttered, as when she turned to Sadat in the Knesset and said, "No mother wants to bring a child into the world fearing that he may fall in battle." (Always a Lioness, Protecting Her Beloved Israel) She never showed even a bit of weakness in times of crises. She broke crises but was never got busted herself under crises. She stayed at the head of one of Israel's violent battles, the Yom Kippur war. It was an age when rumor went before bad news, and bad news was widespread. At a period when Israel was trapped naive by a surprise military assault, she represented everything that was the reverse of hopelessness: radiating inner peace, infectious trust and the belief that no matter how serious the crisis, it could be conquered. (Always a Lioness, Protecting Her Beloved Israel) The attacks began on Israel because of turbulence in the territories once belonging to the Arab nation and now held by Israelis. Meir was able to conquer threats by military strength or head to head talks with Arab leaders. But in October 1973, unusual vacillation with respect to the upsurge of Arab troops near Israeli borders ended in a war. Many Israelis held Meir responsible for the war. After the end of
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