Golda Meir: A Female Leader, Chairwoman of the Party
Keywords:
Golda Meir, Mapai, The Israeli Labor PartyAbstract
Golda Meir was elected secretary-general of Mapai in February 1966 after her retirement as foreign minister. She was the only woman to hold this position since Mapai’s establishment in 1930. She was also the last woman secretary-general of Mapai, which became the Labor Party in early 1968 following its merger with Ahdut Ha’avodah and Ben-Gurion’s party, Rafi. In this way, she also became the first secretary-general of the Labor Party. In March 1969 she stepped down from this position when she was appointed prime minister following Levi Eshkol’s death.
The years 1966 to 1968 were among Israel’s most turbulent political periods. Golda Meir, as secretary-general of Mapai, stood in the forefront of the struggle with Rafi and was fiercely criticized for her refusal to admit the party into the government on the eve of the Six-Day War. She led the crisis-ridden negotiations that resulted in political reconciliation and the formation of the Labor Party. This ‘interim period’ provided Golda Meir with the credentials that eventually made her the only candidate for the post of prime minister.
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