Golda Meir, 1898-1978

Born in Ukraine and raised in Wisconsin, Meir rose in Labor Zionism with the Histadrut and engaged in diplomacy for the Jewish Agency and Israel, including trying to keep Transjordan out of the 1948 war and serving as ambassador to the Soviet Union. She was the first woman to lead the Labor Party and the first female prime minister from 1969 to 1974. She resigned that post after the Agranat Commission reported on the government’s failures in the 1973 war.

Photo: Moshe Pridan, Israeli Government Press Office