EP96: Golda Meir

The Hated and the Dead

Golda Meir served as prime minister of Israel from 1969 until 1974. Taking control of her country during a period of euphoria after the 1967 Six Day War, Meir was a member of Israel's founding generation.
However, Israel's sense of infallibility was shattered after a surprise attack by Egypt and Syria, in what became the Yom Kippur War. Though Israel defeated its Arab neighbours for the third time in 25 years, Meir was quickly accused of complacency and unpreparedness, and resigned in near disgrace just 8 months after the conflict in 1974.
But is this fair? Did Yom Kippur, as well as Meir’s political style, which quickly became outdated after she left office, invalidate her earlier achievements? Today’s episode seeks to shed light on this and more.
My guest today is Blake Flayton. Blake is a columnist with the Jewish Journal, an independent newspaper serving the Jewish community of Los Angeles. As well as Golda Meir’s career, we discuss the fraught founding of Israel in 1948, and the prospects for the Israeli left, which in recent years has lost ground to an even greater extent than the left in European countries