Lioness

Starred review from August 15, 2017
An evenhanded new biography of one the larger-than-life Israeli leader.During her entire 50-year public career, Golda Meir (1898-1978) was dedicated to the cause of Zionism and creation of the state of Israel, from joining the socialist Workers of Zion movement in high school in Milwaukee in 1915, to becoming the fourth prime minister of Israel in 1969. In this suitably admiring but hardly gushing chronicle, versatile writer and journalist Klagsbrun (The Fourth Commandment: Remember the Sabbath Day, 2012, etc.) guides readers through her own journey of understanding this enormously important, often contradictory, crafty, and frequently opaque personage in Israel's history. The project is the result of a long-running research between America and Israel, including the use of newly declassified files. Meir--whom Klagsbrun refers to as "Golda" throughout because that is the way the premier wanted to be addressed, only adopting the Hebraized version of her married name, Meyerson, because her mentor David Ben-Gurion strongly suggested it in the late 1950s--was hugely popular, even adored, as an effective rainmaker for Israel in 1940s and '50s America, the land of her youth; yet later in Israel, it was a different story. Meir never regained the popularity she enjoyed when first becoming premier in Israel in 1969. In a time of a series of debilitating terrorist attacks and an alarming (for her) unraveling of the social fabric, including, ironically, the thrust of feminism, she and her defense minister, Moshe Dayan, were blamed for being blindsided by the attacks of Egypt and Syria in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, and she resigned over the painful subsequent protests. As the author shows in her well-rounded portrait, Meir was Ben-Gurion's "only man in the Israeli cabinet," a ferocious chain-smoking socialist leader without a high-level education but whose plainspoken speeches brought audiences to tears--and action. A terrific chronicle of a unique world leader.

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September 1, 2017

As a child, Ukrainian-born Golda Meir (1898-1978) moved from Russia to Milwaukee and later Chicago, eventually dedicating her life to the formation of Israel, becoming the country's first and only female prime minister in 1969. Often seen as energetic and irascible, Meir spurned feminism as a political movement, and her complex story deserves an examination. Klagsbrun (The Fourth Commandment) attempts to capture the richness and depth of Meir's life with the details she feels other accounts have lacked by making the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War the defining event of Meir's life. No one will come away from this book without respect for Meir's tenacity and dedication to hard work. An exploration of the leader's poverty-stricken and dangerous childhood gives nuance to her often controversial later career. With hundreds of books on Meir available, this one stands out with its depth of resources and research, building a convincing case that Meir's achievements are still relevant. VERDICT General readers and scholars of Jewish history will find something useful here, as will those interested in political science.--Margaret Heller, Loyola Univ. Chicago Libs.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
David Ben-Gurion called Golda Meir the toughest man in his cabinet. Today, of course, that remark would be excoriated for its sexism, but even Klagsbrun's fine, comprehensive biography reveals Meir's courage and steely resolve. Those qualities were sometimes obscured by the public face of a doting, Jewish grandmother, who liked to serve tea and snacks to her colleagues. That wasn't necessarily a false image, but she knew how to cultivate it for maximum effect. Klagsbrun touches all the major bases in Meir's long, varied life, from her birth in 1898 in the Russian Empire, whose pogroms remained part of her and the Jewish community's collective consciousness. Her family moved to Milwaukee in 1908, and she grew up in a milieu that was both socialist and Zionist, moving to Palestine in l921. Her political activities caught the eye of Ben-Gurion and launched her public career, which included secret diplomatic contacts with Arab leaders and service as minister of labor, foreign minister, and, ultimately, prime minister. Klagsbrun covers in detail the achievements and failures of this extraordinary leader.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)