Golda Meir

==Early political career==
In 1928, Meir was elected secretary of ''Moetzet HaPoalot'' (Working Women's Council). She spent two years (1932–34) in the United States as an emissary for the organization and to get expert medical treatment for her daughter's kidney illness.<ref>Golda Meir, ''Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel'', ed. Raphael Patai, New York, 1971, vol. II, pp. 776–77</ref><ref name="chronology" />

In 1934, when Meir returned from the United States, she joined the Executive Committee of the [[Histadrut]] and moved up the ranks to become the head of its Political Department. This appointment was important training for her future role in Israeli leadership.<ref name="EJ">"Golda Meir", ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Keter, 1972, Jerusalem, vol. 11, pp. 1242–45</ref>

In July 1938, Meir was the Jewish observer from Palestine at the [[Évian Conference]], called by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] of the United States to discuss the question of [[Jewish refugees]]' fleeing [[Nazi]] persecution. Delegates from the 32 invited countries repeatedly expressed their sorrow for the plight of the European Jews, but refused to admit the refugees.<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/konferenz-von-evian-1938-kein-asyl-fuer-juedische-fluechtlinge-a-1216376.html Flüchtlingskonferenz von Évian 1938, Als die Welt sich abwandte], ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', July 6, 2018. (in German)</ref> The only exception was the [[Dominican Republic]], which pledged to accept 100,000 refugees on generous terms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MJHnyc.org |url=http://www.mjhnyc.org/documents/sosua2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929083652/http://www.mjhnyc.org/documents/sosua2.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |access-date=September 2, 2011}}</ref> Meir was disappointed at the outcome and she remarked to the press, "There is only one thing I hope to see before I die and that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore."<ref name="MSCD" />

Throughout [[World War II]], Meir served several key roles in the Jewish Agency, which functioned as the government of British Palestine.<ref name=":2" />

In June 1946, Meir became acting head of the Political Department of the [[Jewish Agency]] after the British arrested [[Moshe Sharett]] and other leaders of the [[Yishuv]] as part of [[Operation Agatha]]. This was a critical moment in her career: she became the principal negotiator between the Jews in Palestine and the British Mandatory authorities. After his release, Sharett went to the United States to attend talks on the [[UN Partition Plan]], leaving Meir to head the Political Department until the establishment of the state in 1948.<ref name="EJ" />

In 1947, she traveled to [[Cyprus]] to meet Jewish detainees of the [[Cyprus internment camps]], who had been interned by the British after being caught trying to illegally enter Palestine, and persuade them to give priority to families with children to fill the small quota of detainees allowed into Palestine. She was largely successful in this task.<ref name="chronology" />{{Citation needed|date=February 2023|reason=The other source is too vague on why this trip was successful}}