Golda Meir (1898–1978) was the fourth Prime Minister of Israel and the first woman to hold the title. An astute and resolute figure, she was known for initiating Israeli involvement in Africa and turning the development of ties with emerging countries into a personal and national mission. Below is an excerpt from her autobiography, My Life, published in 1975 in which Meir wrote about her visit to Ethiopia with her daughter Sarah, her fascination for Emperor Haile Selassie since knowing him during his exile years in Jerusalem after the Italian invasion, and how she became disenchanted with him when the Emperor decided to break relations with Israel in 1973, after pressure from Arab countries.

In 1962 Sarah travelled with me to Kenya and to Ethiopia, where I introduced her to Haile Selassie and we visited the large community of Israel working in that country in agriculture, fishing, transportation, helping train the police and the army and teaching at the University of Addis Ababa. Even Ethiopia, with which we had a very special relationship for so many years, broke with us in 1973, but at the time of which I write the ties were still very strong-although never publicized by the Ethiopians and therefore also no by us. For me, Haile Selassie was almost a storybook character, a man from far-off exotic land who dared to stand up in 1936 and call the attention of an indifferent world to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. He and his family had spent a year in Jerusalem as refugees during the Italian occupation, and I used to see him sometimes-a dark, bearded little man with huge, sad eyes- walking with his empress in the street, while his adored little dogs ran after them. He was not just another refuge from fascism; he is descended from that line of Ethiopian kings who claim that their ancestor was the son of born to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and that they are therefore our distant kin. The Lion of Judah has always been the symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy and the links between the Jews and Ethiopia have always been unique. But although Ethiopia is a Christian country, it is part of Africa and, as such, was subjected for years to strong anti-Israel pressure by the Arabs. For a long time, however, Haile Selassie warily trod a tight-rope; many of his dealings with Israel were kept secret, and we sent an ambassador only in 1961. The Sinai Campaign- because opened up the Strait of Tiran- became the start of an even closer relationship, and Israeli ships and planes helped to develop a steady flow of trade between the Ethiopians and ourselves. At the same time, we did a great deal to develop the educational facilities of Ethiopia, and several Israel professors settled in Addis Ababa for a few years. Sarah was too young, I expect, to feel about Haile Selassie as I did. For her he was only the ruler of a fascinating country; for he was always much more. I can’t say that we became fast friends, but when I saw him in his own palace and remembered the only exiled figure I used to see in Jerusalem in the 1930s, I felt that the justice had-for a change- been done, and I was immensely disappointed when even Haile Selassie –for all his own experience with appeasement- did not stand by us. It proved to me once again-though I didn’t need very much proof by then-that one can never count on anyone but oneself.
(The excerpt was sent to us by photojournalist Irene Fertik who is a regular reader of the Ethiopia Observer.)