She served as an officer in the IDF during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War,[1] before studying classics and English literature at Hunter College in New York City.

She married Mordechai Namir, a politician who served as mayor of Tel Aviv and Minister of Labour, 33 years her senior.

In 1973 Namir was elected to the Knesset on the Alignment's list, and served as chairwoman of the Prime Minister's Committee for the Examination of the Status of Women in Israel from 1975 until 1978.

After retaining her seat in the 1992 elections she was appointed Minister of the Environment in Yitzhak Rabin's government, but was unpopular with staff in the ministry.

[2] In December that year she became Minister of Labour and Social Welfare (Rabin had kept the position free in the hope of attracting one of the ultra-orthodox parties to join the coalition),[2] a role she retained when Shimon Peres formed a new government following Rabin's assassination.