Golda Meir

Golda Meir was born in Kyiv, raised partly in the United States, and emigrated to Palestine in 1921, where she rose through the labor movement. She was among the signatories of Israel's declaration of independence and served as minister of labor and then foreign minister. In 1969 she became prime minister, the first woman to hold the post and one of the earliest women to lead a modern state. Her government was caught off guard by the Egyptian and Syrian surprise attack that opened the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and the resulting inquiry and public anger led her to resign in 1974. She remains a contested figure, admired as a founder and criticized over the 1973 intelligence failure and her dismissal of Palestinian national claims.