As is often the case, Israel was in the news yesterday — and it included a little blurb on Golda Meir. I’m sure you know that Golda Meir was the Middle East’s first female head of state and she was one of the signers of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. She was also an important activist in labor and Zionist causes.
But — did you know she grew up in Milwaukee? It’s true — in fact there are a number of institutions and schools in that city named after her. The University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee even named its main library for Meir.
Gold Mabovitch was born in Kyiv in what was then Russia on May 3, 1898. When she was five years old, her family moved to Pinsk, but in both places, they faced anti-Jewish persecution. Shortly after their move to Pinsk, her father immigrated to the United States to get the family our of Russia altogether.
Moshe Mabovitch worked as a carpenter to earn enough to bring his wife, Golda, and her sisters to Milwaukee. At the time, Milwaukee had a population of about 300,000 people, with a Jewish community of about 9,000.
She became one of the leaders of the Milwaukee branch of the National Committee for the Defense of Jews in Easter Europe — an organization protesting anti-Jewish programs.
She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1917, but because of her Zionist activism, she had her mind set on moving to Palestine. After getting married, the couple moved to Palestine in 1921 and lived in a communal settlement before settling in Jerusalem.
Meir was one of the 24 signers of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. She served as Israel’s top diplomat in the Soviet Union, and was elected to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in 1949. That same year, she was named labor secretary in Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s cabinet. She rose to become foreign minister, but resigned, in 1966, amber being diagnosed with lymphoma.
When Prime Minister Levi Eshkol died unexpectedly in 1969, Meir, who was 71, was elected leader of Israel’s Labor Party and became the country’s fourth prime minister.
During her time in office, 11 Isreli athletes were massacred by Palestinian terrorist at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the 1973 Yom Kippur War occurred. She resigned in 1974, after her coalition government was not able to form a government. She died of lymphatic cancer at age 80, in 1978.
Who would have thought this all started in Milwaukee…..
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