The Last Years of Golda Meir in Never-before-seen Pictures
National Library of Israel reveals new photographs ahead of the release of a documentary on the country's only female prime minister
Golda Meir was of the same generation as her predecessors, Moshe Sharett and Levi Eshkol. She was the last Israeli prime minister of the left-wing Mapai party originating in the wave of pioneering emigrations to Israel.
She would later pass the baton to Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, of the generation that was raised in Eretz Yisrael under the British Mandate.
Meir became prime minister in March 1969. Following Israel's great victory in the Six-Day War, the Alignment (or Maarach in Hebrew) — a joint slate of Labor and Mapam, which was one of left-wing Meretz’s precursor parties — had achieved an absolute majority in parliament with 63 out of 120 Knesset seats, a feat never done by any Israeli party before.
Five years later, in April 1974, Meir resigned and left public life behind her, in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War. The Likud would win the next election, held in May 1977. A year and a half later, at age 80, Meir passed away.
Meir gradually receded from the public eye during the last years of her life, while the fortunes of the Labor Party ebbed as well. She did however participate in some events, as documented by Dan Hadani and the photographers of the Israel Press and Photo Agency.
The pictures show Meir, the last of her generation of leaders, in the shadow of her party's crisis. They also show the difference between Meir as prime minister carrying the heavy burden of responsibility on her shoulders, and Meir the distinguished guest.
As such, Meir met with then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat; visited the northern town of Katzrin, whose establishment had been decided on by the government she led; attended "The Battle for Life" exhibition initiated by Likud on the nation's 30th Independence Day, documenting the state's achievements; hosted U.S. Vice-President Walter Mondale and his family during his visit to Israel, five months before she died.
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Al the photographs are part of the Dan Hadani collection, in the National Photographs Collection named after the Pritzker family at the National Library. The film "Golda" will be shown at the National Library's fifth documentary film festival on Wednesday at 8:30 P.M.
Blog editor: Daniel Tchetchik. From Exposure: Haaretz Photo Blog. Follow on Facebook