NOVEMBER 2 • 2023 | 61
J
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Israel’s ‘Iron Lady’
A
lthough she passed away 70 years
ago, former Israeli Prime Minister
Golda Meir (1898-1978) has been
a headliner in the media once again. Over
the past several months, the feature film
Golda premiered in theaters around the
country (see the Sept. 3, 2023, JN). Deborah
E. Lipstadt, an accomplished historian and
United States Special Envoy to Monitor
and Combat Antisemitism,
published a new biography
this year: Golda Meir: Israel’s
Matriarch. Recently, sever-
al articles have noted that
President Joe Biden’s positive
views toward Israel were
shaped by his meeting with
Meir in 1973.
The recent terrorist attack against inno-
cent Israeli citizens, and the subsequent
ongoing war against the perpetrator,
Hamas, has also generated stories that fea-
ture Golda. Comparisons of this surprise
attack on Israel to that of the 1973 Yom
Kippur War, during which Meir was prime
minister, have become fodder for journalists
and other writers.
It is not an exaggeration to say that, even
now, Golda Meir is a polarizing figure.
To some, the first and only female prime
minister of Israel, was the “Iron Lady,
” a
strong-willed, tough and smart politician
who always had the well-being of Israel first
and foremost in her thoughts and actions.
Moreover, Meir made it to the prime min-
ister’s chair in a male-dominated political
culture.
To others, Meir was the anti-hero. Many
held her responsible for the Yom Kippur
War and found her inflexible politics to
be wrong-headed. Many in the women’s
rights movement considered her a sell-out
because she would not declare herself a
feminist and was hostile to some aspects
of the feminist movement. It cannot be
denied, however, that Meir demonstrated
the power of women.
BTW — Lipstadt’s biography of Meir is
excellent. Like all historic
figures of such stature,
Golda Meir was a complex
character. Lipstadt’s goal
in writing her book is to
find the reality between
the extreme perspectives
regarding Meir. Indeed,
there are a number of biog-
raphies of Meir, including
a not-so-accurate autobi-
ography, but Lipstadt’s is perhaps the best
scholarly attempt at a balanced portrait of
one of the most famous women in modern
history.
After reading about Meir in the William
Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit
History, it is obvious that she had a deep
connection to Detroit’s Jewish community:
She is cited on nearly 4,000 pages. Meir vis-
ited the city many times, often to raise funds
for the Yishuv and, after 1948, for Israel.
The earliest article I found was in the
Feb. 1, 1929, Jewish Chronicle. It was a
front-page story: “Detroiters Honor Goldie
Meyerson” (she became Meir in 1956, when
she was appointed Israeli foreign minister).
On a visit to the city in 1951, then as
Israeli minister of labor,
she spoke to a crowd of
9,500 Detroiters at the State
Fair Coliseum. The occa-
sion was the third Israel
Independence Day. Rabbi B. Benedict
Glazer of Temple Beth El introduced her as
“
America’s Gift to Israel.
” Golda was raised
in Milwaukee (May 18, 1951, JN).
On one of her visits, my friend Hy Safran
told me that Meir stayed overnight at his
grandfather’s house in Detroit. Grandfather
Hy Safran was a prominent local Jewish
leader and often hosted fundraisers for
Israel.
Golda Meir was a towering figure in
Israeli and world history. There is plenty
of great reading about her in the Davidson
Archive.
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives,
available for free at thejewishnews.com.
Mike Smith
Alene and
Graham Landau
Archivist Chair
Golda Meir
and Hy Safran
Looking Back
From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History
accessible at thejewishnews.com