Golda Meir: The Lioness Who Led Me Home

From tanks to tech, Golda’s legacy lives on. How has her ‘shopping basket’ shaped Israel’s resilience and innovation in tackling today’s challenges?

Growing up in Mexico, I dreamt of making a difference, but never did I imagine I’d one day call Israel home. If you’d told me, I’d have laughed. Loudly. Yet here I was, back from my first trip to the Middle East, clutching a shiny diploma from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in one hand and the number of my future husband in the other. Somewhere, I imagine Golda Meir giving an approving nod—her unseen hand guiding me to this improbable yet perfect fit.

Golda wasn’t your average leader. She was a paradox in pearls: as warm as a kugel-baking grandma but sharp enough to outwit seasoned diplomats. Her influenced reached far beyond Israel, touching lives—including mine—in places like Guatemala through Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. Golda didn’t just shape my journey to Israel; she shaped my understanding of resilience, leadership, and community.

My connection to Golda started with my mother’s stories of the Iron Lady. But it wasn’t until I attended a Mashav workshop at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center that I felt her legacy come to life. The topic? Media strategies for social change. What stayed with me wasn’t just the professional insights, but also the hummus, the laughter—and, most surprisingly, the lecturer who became my husband. Proof that life’s biggest lessons aren’t always in the syllabus. One workshop and a dash of courage later, I found myself building a family, a home, and a life in Israel.

Golda’s mark on Israeli culture is as indelible as the ink of the Declaration of Independence, which she proudly signed in 1948. She was the embodiment of the Jewish mother—a fierce lioness yet nurturing and deeply connected to her people. As Minister of Labor, Golda tackled the monumental task of housing and employing penniless immigrants. No small feat, but she never backed down from Israel’s promise to be a home and haven for every Jew.

Her famous “shopping basket” wasn’t filled with challah but with Patton tanks and Phantom jets, because survival, like shopping, requires the right ingredients. Today, Golda’s spirit still guides Israel, from agriculture to AI, where innovation is pushing the boundaries of what we thought was possible. Her legacy reminds us that survival isn’t enough; we must build to thrive.

This guiding principle shapes my work. Today I advocate for AI that tackles some of the most pressing threats we face, like money laundering and terrorism financing. Just as Golda’s tanks ensured survival, today’s version of the “shopping basket” is filled with the quiet but powerful tools of algorithms and data analytics—that help dismantle the global criminal networks endangering our security.

Beyond defenses, Golda understood that true strength lies in community and innovation. Through Mashav, she exported Israel’s know-how to the world, fostering hope where it could make a difference. It wasn’t all strawberries and cotton fields (though she famously celebrated those too). She built her legacy with grit, vision and an unyielding drive to create a flourishing society.

When I recently returned to Mashav, this time as a lecturer for women entrepreneurs in Costa Rica, I couldn’t help but to channel Golda’s spirit. I urged them to embrace life’s surprises—even its toughest challenges—just as she had. And in the same breadth, I found myself advocating for the safe return of hostages held in Gaza—a poignant reminder that resilience and hope aren’t just words, they’re our way of life.

Golda once said, “We hate war. We do not rejoice in victories. We rejoice when a new kind of cotton is grown, and when strawberries bloom in Israel.” And yet, here we are, with jets overhead while our children play in the garden. As I watch my daughter pluck strawberries in our backyard in Pardes Hana—a small joy amidst turmoil—I see the essence of Golda’s wisdom. Hope doesn’t erase our struggle, but it makes it bearable.

Golda’s leadership wasn’t about fleeing victories but enduring ones. As we mark the 46^th anniversary of her death, her words and actions remind us that legacies like hers are not bound by time—they are lived and renewed in every moment of resilience and hope. As Israel faces over 428 days of the Iron Swords War, her legacy compels us to act with unity and strength.

Whether in classrooms, kitchens, labs, or the frontlines, her words continue to echo: “Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” In every challenge we face —whether confronting physical threats or advancing the digital economy—the question is not just what kind of future we will build, but how we will build it together.