Golda Meir developed her political career in the Labor Zionist movement after moving to British Mandatory Palestine in 1921. Work in the Histadrut labor federation brought her into national leadership, and she became known for organizing, negotiation, and fundraising. When British authorities detained leading Jewish officials in 1946, she took responsibility for the Jewish Agency's political department. She also represented the movement abroad, helping raise funds in the United States as conflict over Palestine intensified.

In May 1948 Meir signed Israel's Declaration of Independence. She served briefly as the new state's representative in the Soviet Union, then entered the Knesset and became minister of labor in 1949. Until 1956 she directed programs addressing employment, housing, roads, and the absorption of immigrants. As foreign minister from 1956 to 1966, she sought diplomatic recognition and partnerships, including technical assistance and relations with newly independent African states. Her work combined domestic institution building with attempts to reduce Israel's international isolation.

After Levi Eshkol's death, Meir became prime minister in March 1969. She led coalition governments during a period shaped by the territories occupied in the 1967 war, the War of Attrition, Palestinian militancy, and dependence on American support. She cultivated relations with the United States while maintaining a skeptical approach to territorial concessions without negotiated security arrangements. Her rejection of a distinct Palestinian national identity remains a major criticism of her record. The 1972 Munich attack and the government's responses also intensified debate over security policy.

Egypt and Syria launched the October 1973 war during her premiership. Israel's initial military setbacks exposed failures in intelligence assessment and preparation, although its forces later recovered. The fighting brought heavy casualties, emergency American resupply, and pressure for disengagement agreements. She formed another government after the war, but public protest and the investigation of the military failures undermined her authority. She resigned in 1974, and Yitzhak Rabin succeeded her. Her career made her a central figure in the founding generation of Israeli government and one of the first women to lead a national government, while the consequences of occupation and the 1973 war remain essential to assessments of her leadership.