GOLDA MEIR
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Prime Minister Golda Meir, was born Golda Mabovitch in 1898 in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). Her family escaped Russia during a time of increased anti-Jewish sentiment when she was eight years old. Her father, initially sought work in New York City, but then landed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Golda got her start with political activism in the fourth grade, when she and her friend Regina Hamburger organized the American Young Sisters Society to raise money to buy textbooks for fellow classmates who couldn't afford them.
Meir, played a fundamental role in establishing Israel as a country and guiding it through its difficult formative years.
When Israel declared independence in 1948, she was one of only two women asked to sign the declaration. Soon after signing the declaration, she received what was effectively the very first passport that Israel ever printed.
She was elected to the first Israeli Parliament. In 1966, SHE became the secretary general of her political party.
Golda Meir was then elected as Israel’s first female prime minister. She was the country’s fourth prime minister and is still the only woman to have held this post.
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