Words of the Week
“How do you think Golda Meir would view the current state of Israel?
What would she see as its strengths and weaknesses? What would surprise her most? She would not approve of the current Israeli government or of the great power that the religious right has and continues to accumulate. She was a secular Zionist. She wanted to build a state for the Jewish people that was like all the other states of the world. It was not her intention for it to be a religious state. She did not believe in the greater Israel or that Israel had to conquer, own or keep control of all of Palestine. She felt after the 1967 War that the conquered and captured lands should be used as bargaining points for Israel to trade land for peace. She was not willing to give everything back because she wanted more secure borders, but she was not in favor of Israel keeping control of the entire West Bank. She would have negotiated most of the West Bank away in exchange for peace. She certainly was not a lover of the Arabs or Palestinians, but she was also very pragmatic. I believe that over time she, like Yitzhak Rabin, would have made a deal with the Palestinians and given them their state.”
Source: Marilyn Cooper’s interview with Francine Klagsburn, author of a new biography of Golda Meir (Moment Magazine)