Until the end of her life, she roared to protect her people and her country.
During her premiership tenure, she made crucial military decisions that helped save her country during wars, one of which was the most popular Yom Kippur war in 1973. She showed her strong character in fights against terrors, one of which was the attack on Israelis athletes in the Olympic Village in Munich by Black September terrorist group in 1972.
Despite the big name that got many praises from the Israelis people as well as the world political leaders, yet Golda Meir never took any credits for what she had made or claimed as her success. "I have a lot of faults," she said.
One of the most famous women in the world, winner of numerous awards, she lived unpretentiously in a small house that she shared with her son and his family in a middle class neighborhood. She lived in a modest style, cooked and prepared meals for her family, served guests with tea and homemade cookies, washed dishes, and cried for her children when they were sick.
David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel once said, "Golda is a great woman. But she is a woman!"
Golda was born in Kiev, Russia, on May 3, 1898, then several years later her father brought the family to Milwaukee, America where Golda grew and became an excellent student. After marriage, she was active in Jewish organizations mainly related to labor, which sharpened her sympathy towards people. In 1921, Golda decided to come back to her home country, and from there she made path to becoming a political leader.
From member of Knesset (house of representative), she climbed the ladder to Labor Minister (1949-1956), Foreign Affairs Minister (1956-1966), and Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974).
She shared in building a state out of a vision and for nearly sixty years helped shape every aspect of that state, held many prestigious political positions, but for years she had rejected publishers' requests to write a book about her life. "What have I got to write about? the interesting things I won't tell, and what I can tell is not interesting," she said to hear colleagues.
"Nothing in life just happens. You have to have stamina to meet obstacles and overcome them, to struggle," she once said.
Golda died on Friday, December 8, 1978 at 80. Ten of thousands of people circled the coffin as it lay in state on the Knesset. She was buried in Mount Herzl Cemetery, Jerusalem - the burial plot of the Nation's Greats.
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Serpong, 2 Nov 2024
Titus J.
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