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March 7
Golda Meir served as Israeli foreign minister for 10 years
1969: Israel elects first female leader
England have
Golda Meir, the "grand old woman of Israeli politics", is to become the
first female prime minister of Israel.
The 70-year-old"s candidature was officially accepted by the Labour Party
in Tel Aviv after she received 287 votes from her own central committee.
Forty-five MPs abstained.
On Sunday she will formally succeed her political friend and colleague Levi
Eshkol, who died of a heart attack last week.
Mrs Meir, who has come out of retirement to take up the role, pledged to
maintain national unity and called on the people who worked with Mr Eshkol to
"continue in the same framework" in her government.
She added: "I have never failed to accept party decisions and I shall not
refuse now.
"I have faced difficult problems in the past but nothing like the one I"m
faced with now in leading the country."
With her party controlling the largest faction in parliament, Acting Prime
Minister Yigal Allon and Defence Minister Moshe Dayan have agreed to step aside
and reserve their own bids for power until later in the year.
Following their decision, she was the only nominee put forward before the
central committee.
Mrs Meir, a former schoolteacher in America, previously served as Israeli
foreign minister for 10 years before she retired following ill health.
Because of her age and condition, her appointment is regarded by many as a
stop-gap, intended to maintain national unity before the Labour Party chooses a
leader for the October general elections.
Many supporters within the party consider General Dayan to be a more
suitable candidate.
Acting Prime Minister Mr Allon also has substantial backing within the
party leadership.
Both are younger than Mrs Meir and considered national heroes.
Despite such opposition, General Dayan, who is expected to retain his post
as defence minister, said he would be honoured to work with Mrs Meir.
Her government is expected to reflect the same parties and ministers who
previously served under Mr Eshkol.
Details of her new cabinet will be announced in the next few days.
BBC"s John Timpson tries to charm Goldie back to earth with an Ethiopian
bird pipe
1965: Goldie the eagle evades capture again
Artificially 1969:
The A golden eagle which escaped from Regent"s Park Zoo is still on the
loose after outsmarting his keepers" latest attempts to recapture him.
Goldie the Eagle escaped from the central London zoo eight days ago and has
been dodging his captors ever since.
He has spent most of the past week flying round the park - although he has
also been spotted in Tottenham Court Road, Euston and Camden Town.
A crowd of about a thousand gathered in Regents Park today to watch the
bird being chased by keepers, police, firefighters and even a BBC reporter. The
Navy has also been consulted about supplying a net and line-firing rifles.
Goldie, who has lived at the zoo for five years, escaped while his cage was
being cleaned. He left behind his mate, Regina.
Joe McCorry, deputy head keeper of birds of prey at London Zoo, has
predicted Goldie will be caught once he gets hungry.
The zoo has received hundreds of telephone calls and letters offering
advice for his capture. Two teams of keepers have been tracking his progress
using two way radio sets on loan from the Civil Defence.
The closest Goldie has so far come to being recaptured was yesterday while
he was devouring a Muscovy duck in the grounds of the American Ambassador"s
residence in Regent"s Park.
But he was scared off at the last minute when a reporter tried to throw a
coat over him and the bird abandoned his meal half-eaten.
Goldie has also attacked two Cairn terriers but members of the watching
crowd managed to beat him off.
BBC reporter John Timpson recently returned from covering the Queen"s trip
to Ethiopia tried to charm Goldie back to earth using an Ethiopian bird pipe -
perhaps not surprisingly this ploy also failed.
Vocabulary:
dodge: make a sudden movement in a new direction so as to avoid(避开;躲避) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:20:46