The excitement could be felt all across Israel. On March 1, it was reported that US entertainment giant MGM will produce a new miniseries about the life of Golda Meir, the only woman to date to serve as prime minister in Israel. Barbara Streisand, another famous Jewish woman, would produce the series, based on the book “Lioness” by the American-Jewish author Francine Klagsbrun. Israeli actress Shira Haas would play the role of Golda.

Israelis have good reason to take pride in Golda Meir. She remains an international icon of female political leadership, more than 50 years since she was first sworn in as prime minister in 1969. She was a trailblazer — only the third woman to serve as head of government anywhere, and she presided over a government made up entirely of men, including the three heads of Israel’s security establishment, the directors of the Mossad and Shin Bet, and the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces.

It was truly a remarkable achievement, but it did not portend what lay ahead. The situation of women in Israeli politics is hardly promising this year, on International Women’s Day, March 8, 2021, just two weeks before the upcoming March 23 election.

True, women have taken enormous strides forward in other fields, filling key positions in the legal system, the economy and even the military. Esther Hayut is president of the Supreme Court, and she is not the first woman to hold that position. Women head banks and major venture capital firms. They are even breaking through barriers in the defense establishment: Katy Perry, for instance, recently became the first woman to head the Israel Prison Service.