Character Catalog

Golda Meir was one of the 37 founding signatories of the State of Israel. Her signature on this historic document symbolizes her central role in the creation of the Jewish state.

A few weeks before the declaration of independence, Golda Meir traveled across the United States to raise funds from American Jewish communities. She gathered $50 million in a matter of weeks, a decisive sum for arming the nascent Israeli forces.

For seven years, she led Israel's social policy, overseeing the construction of hundreds of thousands of housing units to accommodate Jewish immigrants from around the world.

Golda Meir represented Israel on the international stage for ten years, notably developing relations with the newly independent African states, symbolizing solidarity among developing peoples.

The first woman to lead the Israeli government, she managed the diplomatic crisis following the Munich Olympics (1972) and faced the ordeal of the Yom Kippur War (1973).

A personal account tracing her childhood in Ukraine, her immigration to America and then to Palestine, and her political career. This book remains a valuable historical source on the founding of Israel.

I remember the day I arrived in Palestine. The soil was arid, the conditions difficult, but I had the feeling of finally being home, in the land of my ancestors.

I am aware of the burden and responsibility that fall upon me. I will do everything in my power to guarantee the security and prosperity of our State.

We can forgive the Arabs for killing us. But we cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.

I bear the responsibility for this war on my shoulders. Had I made different decisions, perhaps we could have saved lives. It is a burden I will carry until my death.

Golda Meir's birthplace, then part of the Russian Empire. It was there that she experienced the anti-Jewish pogroms that marked her childhood and shaped her political consciousness.

The city where Golda grew up after her family emigrated in 1906. She studied there, became a teacher, and an active Zionist activist within the American Jewish community.

Golda's first home in Mandatory Palestine from 1921. There she discovered pioneer Zionist communal life and developed as a leader.

The city where Israeli independence was proclaimed on May 14, 1948. Golda Meir signed the declaration in the museum hall and recounted bursting into tears during this historic ceremony.

The capital where Golda Meir served as Foreign Minister and then Prime Minister. Her official residence in Jerusalem was the nerve center of her governmental action.

The city where Golda Meir led numerous diplomatic missions and fundraising efforts for the Zionist cause, notably in 1948 to finance the nascent Israeli army.

Golda Meir was rarely photographed without her black handbag, which became a symbol of her austere and pragmatic style. It represented the image of an ordinary woman exercising power without ostentation.

A heavy smoker throughout her life, Golda Meir smoked cigarettes constantly, including during cabinet sessions. This trait illustrated her direct, unaffected personality.

Her kitchen in Jerusalem was the informal setting for many government meetings. She would personally serve coffee and cakes to her ministers, blending warmth with the exercise of power.

Golda Meir is one of the 37 signatories of this founding document. She later recounted that she wept while signing it, fully aware of the historical significance of the moment.

During her tenure as Prime Minister, the secure telephone linking Tel Aviv to Washington and allied capitals was a daily tool of her diplomacy, particularly during the Yom Kippur War.

During the Yom Kippur War, Golda Meir studied the front maps each night with her generals. These maps symbolized the crushing burden of life-and-death decisions she was required to make.