Golda Meir became the fourth prime minister of Israel at age 71 in 1969 after previously having served as foreign minister. She was considered to be a face of Zionism and was extremely committed to the Jewish people. However, many regard the end of her term as a fall from grace. Israelis felt that she could have prevented the Yom Kippur War but allowed it to happen by not prioritizing peace-making with Egypt. As a result, 3,000 Israelis lost their lives.
After bashfully apologizing for his accent and asking the audience to bear with him, Bornstein explained why the Yom Kippur War ruined Golda’s reputation for many Israelis.
“Everybody knows somebody who got killed in that war, and they put the blame on the one who was the head of this operation, which was Golda,” he said.
However, not many people outside of Israel know about Golda’s demise as prime minister. Nir and Bornstein were not even aware that Golda’s reputation remained in tact outside of Israel until they started working on the film.
“We found out for the first time…that Golda enjoys a very different image elsewhere in the world,” said Nir. “She’s a feminist icon, she’s one of the most familiar faces of Zionism, and in general she’s remembered in a very positive way.”
To reconcile with the disconnect between her negative image in Israel and her very positive image elsewhere, Nir and Bornstein tried to step away from their bias as they worked on the film.
“We decided not to be for her, not to be against her, but to be with her,” said Nir.
Nir and Bornstein even found that their opinion of Golda changed and softened as they worked with footage and discovered more about her life. Although she was extremely dedicated to her country, Golda was old when she became prime minister and was not open to accepting new ideas. She was also sick with cancer during her term and taking care of her elderly sister who eventually died.
“There is such a big gap between what she worked for very honestly and the results. And that gap is a tragedy I could relate with,” said Nir.
“Whether I agreed with what she was saying or not, I could believe her. I fell in love with her,” said Bornstein.
The film does admittedly reveal fascinating things about her life.
Originally born in Kiev, current day Ukraine, Golda’s family moved to Milwaukee when she was eight. She grew up there until running away to Denver at age 14 to escape an arranged marriage. In Denver, she lived with her sister Sheyna and attended North High School for two years. According to Nir, Denver is where her aspirations took root.
“Sheyna’s house is where she got exposed to the idea of Zionism and political activism. She always said it was where her life changed for good…where she got her cause,” said Nir.
Golda moved to what was then Palestine a few years after high school and began working towards her political career with a fierce dedication to Jews.
After learning this, Nir better understood where she was coming from, even with her questionable and discriminatory political moves such as dismissing the Israeli Black Panther protesters during her meeting with them in April 1971.
“Golda was afraid for the Jews, and she acted from that fear,” said Nir.
Two-and-a-half years after they began working on the film and just six months before its release, Nir and Bornstein came across footage of a very intimate discussion with Golda. She had just been interviewed for Israeli television, and with the cameras still rolling, she lit cigarette after cigarette and spoke candidly about her term as prime minister.
Nir and Bornstein felt that some parts of this interview were meant for them, for the people that would help write her history. In fact, in the interview, Golda is directly asked how she would want to be written about in a history book.
Golda says she has not thought about this before and takes a moment to think, “I hope they write about me with mercy,” she says.
The MFJS Reporter -- Winter 2020 M-W 