Former minister Ora Namir died Sunday at the age of 88.
Namir, who served as a member of the Knesset from 1974 until 1996, held the positions of environment minister and labor and social welfare minister. She later became Israel's first ambassador to China and Mongolia.
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Born Ora Toyev in Hadera in 1930, Namir served as an officer in the IDF and later studied English literature at Hunter College in New York.
In 1959, she married Mordechai Namir, Tel Aviv's seventh mayor and an MK and labor minister representing Mapai (predecessor to the Labor party). Thirty-three years her senior, he died in 1975 at the age of 77.
She served as secretary of Mapai during the second Knesset (1951–1955) before becoming secretary to the Israeli Mission to the United Nations. Between 1967 and 1974 she was secretary general of the Naamat women's organization's Tel Aviv branch.
In 1973 Namir was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment list (an alliance of Labor and Mapam) and served as head of the Committee on the Status of Women from 1975 until 1978.
Re-elected in 1977, 1981, 1984 and 1988, Namir vied for the Labor party's leadership in 1992 but lost. After retaining her seat in the 1992 elections she was appointed environment minister in then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's government. In December that year, she was named labor and social welfare minister, a role she retained when Shimon Peres formed a new government following Rabin's assassination.
In 1996 she was named Israel's first ambassador to China and nonresident ambassador to Mongolia, roles she held until 2000. After returning to Israel she joined Amir Peretz's One Nation party and was placed fifth on its list for the 2003 elections. However, the party won only three seats.
A statement by the Labor party said, "Labor mourns the passing of former MK and minister Ora Namir. She championed many social and educational causes and fought for equality. The public as a whole has benefited from her work. Labor sends its condolences to her family."
Labor Chairman Amir Peretz said, "I was terribly saddened to learn of Ora's death. We had a wonderful personal relationship. She was the mentor on social issues and we were longtime political partners. Her legacy will continue to be my guiding light in the future."
