A Rare Recording of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir

Golda Mabovitch Meir (May 3, 1898 - December 8, 1978) was an Israeli politician who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974. She was Israel's first and only female head of government, the first female head of government in the Middle East, and the fourth elected female head of government or state in the world. Born in Kiev in the Russian Empire to Jewish parents, Meir immigrated as a child with her family to the United States in 1906. She graduated from the Milwaukee State Normal School and found work as a teacher. While in Milwaukee, she embraced the Labor Zionist movement and, in 1921, Meir and her husband emigrated to Mandatory Palestine. She was a signatory of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, and was elected to the Knesset in 1949. She served as Labor Minister until 1956, when she was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. A controversial figure in Israel, Meir has been lionized as a founder of the state and described as the "Iron Lady" of Israeli politics, but also widely blamed for the country being caught by surprise during the war of 1973. In this 1970 recording, Meir answers questions shortly after a Swissair Flight 330 from Zurich to Hong Kong, with a planned stopover in Tel Aviv, was brought down by a bomb planted by two PLO members soon after takeoff, killing all 47 passengers and crew.