they may have seen so when george w. bush invasion of iraq with an anti-war rally they would see disparity in t-shirts about george bush and they felt the same. >> there is the argument to be made for that is just a sign of how corrosive our public discourse has become. the question is where do we go from here? do we correct it? does it get better or will we see even more crude language and behavior? is there a line that is a bridge too far? where do

rigo? -- we go? . . . >> senior director of educationu to the talk on the burke blindness, and the nation of israel. the program we are co- presented with the jewish week. honored to host this talk because francine has been a long time jewish museum board member. for 30 years.

we appreciate her ongoing dedication to our institution. please visit the website to learn about other workshops taken place the season. after the talk we invite you to stay where francine will be signing books. please join me in welcoming gary, editor and publisher of the jewish week who will introduce our speaker. [applause] >> thank you. good evening before i forget, i want to ask you to turn off your cell phones. that goes for you too, golda says editor and publisher of the jewish week i am proud that the

jewish week is co- presenting the program along with her friends at the jewish museum. i'm honored to be introducing the woman of the hour, francine who in addition to her other writings is deeply admired and avidly read as a columnist for the jewish week, and a dear friend. on my way and i heard two gentlemen talking about your new book. one said it's a great read, you can't beat it. the other one said data, he can't lift it. [laughter] the truth is, the truth is i received an advance copy and was intimidated by size yes, it's 813 pages. spirit. but that includes pages of

annotated doubts followed by 55 pages a big lag or fan index. the text is really about 695 pages and fran, when i finish reading it, -- is a celebration that scholars make to mark the completion after months of or years of study. seriously, as i read the book i, wage timelines with admit admiration. not only for the remarkable accomplishments, but for the way francine has made it come to life in this monumental work. it is now the definitive biography of golda.

as francine has told -, francine felt like she began to inhabit golda during the eight year she spent working on the book. it is long and thoroughly research, but it is not a dry read. pick up any page and start reading and you will be drawn into the narrative. the story of unique women, and emerging nation. fortunately unfamiliar with her writing because she's been contributing a monthly column from the jewish week almost from the time i came to the paper and 93. i can tell you of all the columnists are reporters and others whose work i see in the office, she is the most reliable

in meeting the deadline and producing the cleanest copy. i was not surprised when i heard her editor say the manuscript came in at 346,000 words and she didn't have to change any of them. that's a sign of either a great writer or lazy editor. and i know he is one of the best editors in the business. was so impressive is that she has built a scholarly historian and a keen observer of contemporary chance. that's a rare combination. she's the author of more than a dozen books. her works include voices of wisdom, the fourth commandment, and married people, staring to the other in the age of divorce.

she was editor of best-selling free to be you and me. she has contributed articles to publications and in addition to a ba and ma degree, she holds a bachelor of hebrew literature from the theological seminary and was awarded an honorary doctorate. she's a trustee of the jewish museum is a contributing editor to lilith and gnashing, to jewish publications. she was at the forefront of the struggle to have women ordained as rabbis. and finally, hope you know you and your endlessly charming husband are very dear to my wife and me. i am honored to introduce you now. ladies and gentlemen, please

join me in welcoming our author, francine clyde spero. [applause] >> thank you gary. i just gary, he's one of the gratis authors of the time. and so for jewish week to be cosponsoring this, gary has been my boss for a little bit longer than have been writing. it's just a joy. we are also good friends. i'll also want to thank -- who does events for the jewish week and is a vault in this event.

whatever she does is magic and i think her for that. then i want to thank the people of the jewish museum who put this event together. mary benedict to introduce gary who is a person who invited me to speak here and she's been supportive and patient when i got a little concerned about this event. jenna who does public programming and we're all quite overwhelmed by the number of people who are here. and and who is the director of communications and runs the whole thing in terms of public events and anything that has to do with the public. i think you for your kindness and your support. a quick shout out to carolyn is a dear friend of mine. this began because of caroline. it was her idea. she met with me every month for

lunch to say what are you up to now. she read the manuscript twice and has been very supportive. i so wanted to thank my editor who never said what are you up to now. he just accepted i was where i was. a joy to work with us to the current director, carolyn that she's here and filled with wonderful ideas and keeps giving me ideas of things i should do. thank you naomi.

so i also want to thank all of you, so many for coming and i very touched and grateful for all of you. are going to begin with the word from our guest of honor. >> the prime minister of israel is visiting this country on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the launching of the israel bonds. this is the only network television interview. we welcome you to our country and our program. >> this is equated with jews. in what they did was to take a legal stamp to anti-semitism. other anti-semites in the world

announce been legalized. if you say that the zionists are racist, that israel is a racist state, then it's almost necessary to destroy that state. this given legal sanction to everyone in the world. >> i chose that, this is from an interview in 1976, shortly after the un passed the zionism resolution. i want to show you that go there was a person of her own kind the issue of the un and israel's attitude to the unit is when prejudiced against that. the word zionism and racism is still used together.

go there would not have objected to the criticisms of israel, but those roles are still here today. she was very much part of our own times. but she was also very much part of her own time. her story has been told before and some books in film and television in plays, i felt she would not given her do. the mood examine her in her times and i felt that with the perspective of time we should take another look at golda. in her own day she was one of the most powerful women in the world. so i want to know how should we see her today.

who was this person. you look at her on the scream and i think many of you have the same memory. a little old lady, maybe grandmotherly looking. what i found is that she was a complex person. she was a bundle of contradictions. she was the ultimate insider in israeli politics. she became foreign minister, prime minister, yet many ways she was an outsider. a woman in a man's world. choose a woman from the united states to go to palestine. she was born in russia the spencer youth in the united states from the time she was eight until she was 25.

she was the only founder who came from a country that is not persecuting its juice. she came from a country where your parents could succeed and grow and she could grow. she could become her first woman president since we haven't gotten there yet. so, she was an outsider even though she was so much inside. that was so important to who she was and who she became. she was also an icon for women. she lived a very modern woman's life. she was married and she separated from her husband. early in her marriage she had an abortion. chef and left her children because she was working. she was a single mother.

yet she was opposed to the feminist movement of the 1970s. that's not to say shouldn't care about women. she care very much about women's issues for example, when the state was being formed every decision had to be discussed. one decision was how do you address members of the parliament. here in the united states we say the senator from new york, for example. in israel they don't vote geographically. the men in the cabinet and their great wisdom said, why don't we use the system and sing a guy ask, when men are called to bless you say for example isaac

the son of jacob so why don't we identified the men by their fathers names and she said well i think we should identify by their mothers names. but always say isaac the son of rachel. and they put the whole thing aside. on a more serious level, when she was labor minister she literally pushed through legislature that protected working women when the woman was hospitalized having a baby would be free. there is paid maternity leave. she cared about women in women's issues but she was supposed to the women's movements in the 1970s.

she said, those crazy broad burning women. part of that because she was a socialist. she had a vision of socialism taken over society and everybody would be under that blanket and nobody would need a special movement because there needs to be taken care of. the other reason was simply her ambition. she knew in her men's world identifying with the men was not going to get her where she wanted to go. sivan women leaders today don't call them feminists. the interesting contradiction is that the women's movement adopted her as their icon. i remember going to the miss magazine because i was at living to the you and me. there the wall was a poster with

a lively image of golda that said, but can she tie. because that's what people thought women should be doing. another contradiction. she was poorly educated, shouldn't have more than a high school degree. and yet, but she could speak without notes to the heart of her audience. her colleague said she could read from the phone book and make people cry. she was that effective. another contradiction, chef and had a grandmotherly image and she played on it. she like to present herself that way at times. when she was interviewed she would talk about her chicken soup recipe.

but when she mentions that, thousands of people rode in to get the recipe. so i put it in my book. i have to tell you, it's nothing much. but this woman was toughest steel. she could also be sarcastic and cruel to people who don't agree with her they were not happy about. a seminary interviewed said she is not only sarcastic and cunning but she was authoritarian. when he was told that she was on the telephone she said, i stand up straight and salute because

that's the kind of feeling she conveyed. finally, golda was and remains in the united states, but in her own country in israel she was a controversial figure. for one thing, first sexist reasons. men would work for her when they were young and thought she was difficult. after she died really let her have it. words that we have heard often applied to women when men don't like them. that's only part of the story. the larger part is that she was prime minister during 1973.

israel won the war but they lost 2600 soldiers. the country was left with a very ground feeling that has remained. and i'll come back but golda was the prime minister and she was held responsible for that. now her life story reads like fiction. she was born in russia in 1890. her older sister was nine years older. between her birth and shane is they had four other babies, all boys who died in infancy. she grew up in milwaukee. then she came with her sisters in 19 oh six. i looked at that again and thought about it.

the fact that she grew up in milwaukee and not in the slums of new york had a great effect on her. in those days there were waves of immigrants coming in the german jews who came ahead of them to help them but were embarrassed. they look down on them, they thought they were dirty and there they were congregating in cities like new york and chicago. so the purpose was to spread the jeans out so they would not be one area only. and also as they could become america nice. for the most part that system did not work.

they lived in milwaukee it seems to me that she was a different person had she grown up in new york. to be sure, the family was poor, the city was a socialist city. golda had joined the socialist and that was reinforced by the atmosphere in her city. milwaukee was closer to the front tier. there is a pc green there. and also this can-do feeling that you work hard enough and give it your all and you achieve what you want. and that was her attitude. then there was an optimism. even america as a whole was still growing. she described herself as an optimist. the juice she would say cannot

afford the luxury of not being an optimist because of our history. in denver, colorado her older sister went to live. go to joined her for a while. she met morris, sign painter but very culture. he loved music, he loved art, and books. and golda is a small education was taken with that. all of her life she was attracted to men who are intellectual. in her culture. she had several lovers. i wrote about three of them but there were more. she is very good-looking as a young woman, very charismatic.

this time morris fell love with her at some point they came to visit and read to go this family. i have a letter from the family from another sister. she said that their mother to not think fairly high way. she did not think that golda was worthy of her son morris. as you know, they went on to live in palestine. morris could never find himself. he was a failure in many ways. then golda -- i think we need to

think twice about being critical of mothers-in-law. people always make separate names i want to tell you. her -- [inaudible] that should become golda meir because so that's how she came to be the goal of the mayor we came to be. >> they made her friends early on from that was something else. i thought what did they know about the land they're going to? they never will be hard living but not how hard. there'd have to build on sand. whether in that, they knew there is people living on that land.

they were not stupid. their new there is another people living there. but they truly believe that after the time they would be welcomed by their population. they were bringing western ways and there no hall. technology, they thought that would be welcome. that didn't happen. the other mistake they made was at that time there is a big issue movement in the state. an emphasis that people should speak you dish. and she grabs speaking you dish but she never written it. they began writing to each other in yiddish. people who spoke english started writing in yiddish.

when they came to palestine they discovered the language of the jewish part was hebrew. was being reinvented and they only knew you dish. so they settled then then they showed leadership qualities. she was sent to a conference in tel aviv and she spoke in yiddish. then she was sent to a conference which was the first one of palestine and one of the pioneers said he got up and stopped and said in tel aviv it was bad enough and poor golda was humiliated because she didn't know hebrew and she had to continue but she did learn hebrew. she was never proficient at it.

and all the men would say okay it's a bad enough if she only has a vocabulary of 2000 words, the white associate lease use the 2000 words. she get back at him when she said he was very educated and space bar language. she said so does the waiter at the king david hotel. morris hated it he didn't like communal living. they moved to junior sloan. there were so poor that golda had to take and wash and do the anointing of the local nursery school. in the 1930s she was offered a job by a man named david. to work with the women workers

council he was a very important person he became her lover later of all the men she ever knew he was truly the love of her life. she began working and was a pioneer for women. she was traveling back and forth and sometimes she had to leave her children for nine months at a time. she wrote about how difficult it was. she exhausted herself but continue doing it. in 1938, was a turning point in her own attitude.

hitler had come into power. this was before the final solution of killing all the jews. jews were becoming refugees. and they convened the convention on the lake geneva and he invited 32 nations to come to this convention to talk about the refugees, who could take them into what could they do? after 32 nations 31 cannot find a way to take in the refugees, they were professionals, we didn't have room for that many professionals. the only one who offered to take in the jews was custer, the dominican republic, but they offered to take him to work land

that was networkable. at the end of the conference there was a news conference there is a state yet but she was there is a delicate going to reach you what she said. there's only one thing i hope to see before he died, that is that my people should not need expressions of sympathy anymore. the latest was she looked back and said it really was a turning point when she came to understand that jews have to depend on themselves and they cannot depend completely on anyone else. in 1948, the partition have been

done. and the head of the jewish priesthood of israel understood that as soon as the state would be declare their countries would invade. he desperately need money. this is in a certain for my book. he needed money and sent a memo to the united states to get money but he only came back with $7 million. for him to leave the country at that point would've been nuts so he sent golda, she came on a freezing day in the middle of a storm, she heard there is a luncheon going on in chicago with the juice from the federation and she knew she had to speak to those people.

so she came in henry was a man who is it the executive director and he said women in america, i just thought she was -- ss much as i know about her that she came without a dime in her pocket and said i have to raise money. so we didn't have much faith but he set up for her to speak and she did her knees were trembling and she was terrified but in that same straightforward way without a drop of makeup on and her hair pulled back and parted in the middle, she spoke from her heart and told them why they

need money. shanda by saying you cannot decide whether we will fight, we will fight, but you can decide if we win or the arabs will win. that you can decide. when she finished speaking it was an electric current that went through the room. the people gave a standing ovation and pledging all over the place. that was wonderful. the next day reality set in. i believe robert, previous district district attorney was going to be in the audience tonight with his wife for what happened the next time so here's

the story, wanted all of you to hear. henry, robin's father was secretary treasury under franklin roosevelt. at this time his chairman of the board of the next after his great success golda went to new york and met with the leaders. they sat around the table eating kosher deli sandwiches and discussing whether they could help her raise the money. again very proper wealthy men said we can't do that. we cannot raise money to give arms to israel. and henry morgan paul said," you know, if golda says they have to

be have arms and we're the only place where they can get the arms of a faded going to have to accept that were going to include her in this year's campaign. and they did. and they raised $55 million and she came home with $25 million to buy arms. so of that some of you may remember that she dressed up as an arab to go meet with the king

to convince not to join in the war against israel. she is not successful. years later she had at least 3060 secret meetings with the king hussein, his grandson. soon after the state was declared she was the first investor to the soviet union. nobody knew what the condition of soviet jews were. everyone was supposed to be the soviet man, the russians had supported and because it was a way for them to get power in the middle east. but they rebel because the juicer silence. so golda came in and she very much wanted to meet them but she never could. she went to the synagogue of moscow and when she came out

thousands of jews came out to greet her, to touch her and to tell her to give her notes to send home somehow to help them. somebody push her into a taxicab for her own safety and all she could think to do was to put her head out the window and say thank you for having me name jewish. should complex relationships with the men whose names you know. [inaudible] there always fighting with each other and yet there they were, they created the state of israel. when she was labor minister in 19 team 49.

there's legislation about women and she managed to push through a very progressive insurance where can the basis of the state. and it was very temporary housing. a very trying job but she loved it. golda lived very modestly. when you think of her in comparison to the world leaders today she lived in a little house a set of tel aviv. i visited there because i got to know her family. it has a small living room. one side was a fireplace and the other was a couch and two soft easy chairs. her sent to me the one golda said and was this one.

should go into the kitchen to make tea and cookies for dignitaries in the family. when she became prime minister she was shut the lights out because that's what you do. you're frugal. she made no effort to benefit her family. when she became foreign minister in 1956 there many things she did but i want to mention one thing. she met with president kennedy in 1962. he said something that no american leader had ever said to an israeli leader before. he met ben -- and they didn't like it tell a child. with his burning eyes and take accent. the golda liked him very much.

she is very taken with this young president. and he was taking without warming she was. what he said was, the united states has a special relationship with israel comparable to a relationship with great britain. if israel is ever attacked, we would be there to support her. this had not bent the relationship between the united states and israel before that. but she made the apathy in washington -- the embassy. she really develop that relationship. shows remember that. president kennedy took her hand and said to her, don't worry, nothing will happen to israel and that meant a great deal to her. when kennedy was assassinated in lyndon johnson became president he said i know you have lost a

friend that you will find another friend in me. olga became prime minister in 1969 in our back to the young kapoor war. there is a feeling of war the air but the generals were so sure when happened they kept reassuring her, a low probability of for that phrase became so, there's a book with the name of that phrase. even if they were, israel were in a word they would win it. golda had to accept it because they were her generals. close to that war broke out, one day the kgb said hundreds of advisors of the soviet union who

were in russian syria were leaving in a great hurry. that was a cold war era and israel was a client of the united states. these russian advisors were leaving and golda had a gut feeling that something has to be wrong. but her generals reassured her not to worry. maybe they think were going to attack them. a low possibility for. and the war broke out. they wanted in the end but they lost some of the soldiers. so many wounded golda it was a great tragedy. she said i will never again be the person i was before the war. even so you remember -- with he

fell apart completely. the golda was a rock. she had the country together she made military decisions she did not know she wouldn't ever have to make. she was calm and that help them with the outcome of the war. but still in 1974 should resign. even then during the time the next person took over, go there was still holding office she negotiated with henry kissinger who separation of troops between egypt and israel.

she negotiated on the separation of troops. was very tough negotiations. at one point kissinger said prime minister, i'm an american first. in a julie last and she said it's okay, and hebrew we read from right to left. [laughter] the general who is there pictured her and she walked away from the power holding her bag. shows have a handbag. and nobody said anything. this was the end of the naresh he said and that's what it was. even at the end when golda was no longer in office should take

part, she still raising money and giving advice. she was something. and that came to israel 77 shares at the airport to greet him. when he met her he said, i wanted to meet you for such a long time. and she said, why didn't you come. he said, the time is not yet right. he needed this war to restore our pride. colbert died in 1978. she never saw the final peace treaty. she died at the age of 80 and have been fighting insomnia for 15 years and kept it secret.

she had many flaws, she could be rigid into, sarcastic, she didn't understand those that came from arab lands. she is committed to the soviet jews. she did not understand palestinian nationalism nor do most people at the time. [inaudible] but olga was a leader. she had a vision. she gave up her private life, much of her family life and her health for that vision. now i want you to hear her say it before close. >> to have any words of wisdom for people have retired? >> all i can say is that every

person should find the thing it in life that is most vital. in addition there must be something that they want to the world. in hebrew the words the dreamer in the fighter of the same leverage. only one place they change. on i've interpreted and i'm not a hebrew scholar that the only one who dreams a great training thinks it's important enough to fight with the realization of that train. i believe in those. i believe the state of my people depends on sovereignty.

>> and 78 you still have your dream. >> old had a great dream. she was going to fight for that train. and she achieved it. homeland for the jewish people. thank you very much. [applause] i will be happy to take questions. >> will come around with two microphones. >> i wondered about her relationship with franklin roosevelt.

>> shouldn't have a relationship with franklin. she did have a relationship with eleanor roosevelt. they were good friends. she said it was his father who introduced henry who introduced golda to eleanor. and golda wrote that whenever she was in town in washington which was frequently, if eleanor was in town they would have tea together. they were good friends but they didn't have a modest time together. >> why was she not alert to the attacks of 1973.

it's a long story. there was a spy, some of you may know that. a man who was a high level inside government. he volunteered to be a spy for israel. after much investigation they accepted him. he was known and he warned them the war was going to break out.

he said it would break out at 6:00 o'clock that evening. so they were ready. they were going to mobilize the troops. the army is mainly the reserves. so they're going to mobilize and be ready. and then the attack came in 2:0. they did not expect it at that time there were not ready. the arms were not a place and golda said, i'm so angry they surprised us after all. >> if i'm wrong i'm going to be stoned. somewhere i remember hearing and i want to ask you, was at the

same henry morgan fell who discouraged fdr from admitting the ship and encouraging him to send it back? >> no. that's a part of my story. >> will happen her family for the children. >> yesterday as in dallas, texas speaking and at the end of my talk people are buying books and someone came over and said i realize he was the grandson who

lived in the united states. i so touchy came to my talk. her son and daughter and golda was very proud. they resented their mother leaving them when they're young but when they got older when i met them, they defended her to the hill. you cannot say one negative word about her. i really got to know and like them. at the beginning they said were not going to cooperate and i said, i promise i will write a fair book. but i will be as fair as i can be. and he accepted that.

and they went back and forth. and sometimes he had three sons one of them. [inaudible] the other is a researcher. her daughter had a daughter who is mentally not well and the sun was a terrific man. single the secret was that the first wife gave birth to a child who has down syndrome. golda wanted it instituted. but they said there's no relationship between them, i don't believe she ever saw the baby but she helped support the child. she's a special home now.

i believe the play was all about whether or not she would use atomic bombs in the 73 war. can you talk about the. >> the play was wrong. i spent some time investigating that whole nuclear thing. i interviewed henry kissinger about it and james, secretary of defense about it at great length. the fact is they suggested using unconventional weapons. the rest of the cabinet said no, they would not do that. the simpler an example for one a small country has nuclear

capability. but diane was able to set its -- i do believe it. he said, that's untrue, had they threatened us they'd use their nuclear capacity if we cannot help them. i couldn't make that decision. he has this attitude does it really happen said i would have to take this to the president himself that would've been very bad for israel. however he somehow should hold

nuclear warheads and he positioned them in a way not to threaten the united states but egypt understood they had the weapons. the soviet union was be good be to send some nuclear weapons to egypt. so james said to me as far as i know they did the right thing. and when they say as far as i know, then he knows. this is not a threat to the united states. >> will take one more question.

>> this comes a quote from the book of ezekiel that says your mother was aliveness among the lions. nothing the exact words, protecting her cubs. and i thought that fit golda so well. she was killed for her people and would protect them. i really agonize with that because -- but in hebrew it's a different word for female lion that we have. a separate word. so i decided my editor who loves that name we did it.

so far we've had positive responses. [applause] >> there's a lot of us in here. copies are available for purchase at the door. [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

>> in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. it's brought you today by your cable or satellite provider. next time afterwards, tamara discusses his experience fighting domestic terrorism. his interviewed by michael german, author of thinking like a terrorist. he is also fellow at the brennan center for justice. because of his undercover work his identity is hidden behind a screen in his voice has been altered. >> host: hello, my name isik