Golda Meir and the Evolution of Israel’s Democracy

Abstract

For almost half a century, Golda Meir played a key role in developing the pre-state institutions and later as a cabinet minister in Israel’s formative years, finally attaining the prime minister’s post during some of Israel’s most challenging years. She has been the subject of many biographies, memoirs, monographs, and thousands of articles. Few have ever focused on her attitude toward the democratic system that evolved in Israel, in whose development she played a surprisingly minor role. Much is known about her socialist ideology, less about her views on Israel’s democracy. Unlike many Israeli leaders, she did not keep a diary, but there are volumes of letters, speeches, and reports in various forums that provide her worldview and social ideology. She devoted little time and thought and did not attempt to create comprehensive and concise thinking on democracy and its role in modern Israel. For her socialism, the Labor Movement in Israel and the Mapai Party were the expressions of both her views on society and governance. They came first, and democracy came a poor second.