What emotional traits are essential for building a nation? More broadly, are there such things as ‘national emotions,’ and if so, what are they? In this lecture, I will explore these questions by analysing the Zionist case through the lens of the history of emotions. I will examine emotions where the national dimension is evident, such as honour and love of the homeland, alongside emotions that may seem less directly national, like fear and happiness.

Yair completed his PhD through the Program for Hermeneutics and Cultural Studies at Bar-Ilan University, focusing on religious emotions in the Lithuanian Haredi community. He is currently a British Academy Newton International Fellow at the University of Cambridge and a Research Associate at Sidney Sussex College. His research focuses on the emotional dimensions of the Zionist ‘negation of the diaspora.’