Proverbs 31:25-27
King James Version
25 Strength and honour are her clothing;
and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom;
and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household,
and eateth not the bread of idleness.
She was born in Kiev, a Ukrainian Jew.
She lived in a kibbutz with her husband, and two kids.
She became labor minister, then foreign minister, and eventually prime minister.
Her name is "Golda".
Her married name is "Meyerson" but her predecessor in the foreign ministry, Moshe Sharett, urged her to have a Hebrew surname.
She chose "Meir", meaning "illuminate".
Thus, in 1956, she became known as Golda Meir.
FOURTH prime minister of Israel, from 1969 to 1974.
What is striking about this lady are her quotes.
Which happen to be very relevant for today's times.
Especially regarding Israel-Arab relations.
For me, these are her most haunting words:
"Peace will come
when the Arabs will love their children
more than they hate us."
Ponder upon these equally-relevant quotes:
"A leader who doesn’t hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader."
"A man who does not hate war is not fully human."
"Peace will come when an Arab leader is courageous enough to wish it."
"When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons."
"An Arab mother who loses a son in battle weeps as bitterly as any Israeli mother."
"Of course, we all must realize that the path to peace may be a little bit difficult, but not as difficult as the path to war."
"We don’t want wars, even when we win."
"There is no Zionism except the rescue of Jews."
"I’m not cynical at all. I’ve lost my illusions, that’s all."
"There’s no difference between killing and making decisions by which you send others to kill. It’s exactly the same thing. And maybe it’s worse."
"You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity."
"You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist."
"This world of ours was not created to be the testing ground for the perfection of weapons to wipe us out."
As to Israel’s military successes, she responded: "Our secret weapon: No alternative."
-- Source: Metropolitan State University of Denver
("Selected Quotes from Golda Meir")
We also learned from Wikipedia that she:
"strongly identified with Judaism culturally, but was an atheist in religious belief"
Imagine if she was born again, and really believed in GOD, and in the Messiahship of the LORD JESUS.
How the HOLY SPIRIT would have guided her.
That would have been something to behold!
Although blamed for it, she was cleared of "direct responsibility" by the Agranat Commission, regarding the morning of the 1973 Yom-Kippur War:
"She decided wisely, with common sense and speedily, in favour of the full mobilization of the reserves, as recommended by the chief-of-staff, despite weighty political considerations, thereby performing a most important service for the defence of the state."
-- "Resignation" (1974), Wikipedia
The first time I was alerted to her was when I saw the 2005 movie, "Munich", where she ordered Mossad to hunt down the terrorists.
It's confirmed here:
"In the wake of the Munich massacre at the 1972 Summer Olympics, Meir appealed to the world to "save our citizens and condemn the unspeakable criminal acts committed".[68] Outraged at the perceived lack of global action, she ordered the Mossad to hunt down and assassinate suspected leaders and operatives of Black September and the PFLP."
-- "Munich Olympics" (1972), Wikipedia
One thing for sure, this first and only female head of Israel, and in the Middle East, is no pushover.
She is strong, simple, caring, practical, and straightforward.
Anyone who survives leading the most-maligned nation on earth deserves our respect.
We did write it's the "TOUGHEST job EVER".
Related material:
May 3, 1898–December 8, 1978
by Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Jewish Women's Archive
Related videos:
Munich - Official® Trailer [HD]
The Munich Massacre | History of Israel Explained | Unpacked