The NIS 10 banknote of series I of the New Sheqel depicts on its obverse Golda Meir (1898-1978), Israel's fourth prime minister from 1969 until 1974. Born in present-day Ukraine and raised for 15 years in the USA, Golda Meir (affectionately commonly called "Golda" in Israel) was Israel's first - and until now only - woman prime minister, and ranks #3 on the world list (after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka and Indira Gandhi of India). Before her premiership, Golda was Israel's first ambassador to the USSR, and served as foreign minister for ten years. Golda's preoccupation with the plight of Soviet Jewry, first during her short stint in Moscow, later as foreign minister, but primarily when she was prime minister, is reflected on the banknote's obverse by a stylized tree with intertwining branches forming a Star of David against a background of seven-branched candelabra and the words "Let My People Go" in microprint. During Golda's premiership the Russian authorities were forced to open the exit gates, resulting in a massive outflow of Soviet Jews, many of whom settled in Israel.
The reverse of the NIS 10 banknote features the monumental photograph of Golda, then ambassador to the USSR, mobbed in September 1948 by a crowd of thousands of Soviet Jews outside the Moscow Choral Synagogue, where she was about to attend High Holidays services. Golda's head can be seen in the foreground.