Ben-Israel, Hedva  - Professor Emerita of History at Hebrew University Jerusalem

Personal: Born 1925, Jerusalem; Ph.D. 1955, Univ. of Cambridge; Lect. 1960; Sen. Lect. 1965; Assoc. Prof. 1981; Prof. 1992; Emerita 1994.

Research Interests:

Comparative history. Cultural history. The historiography of World War II. Modern nationalism. Comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to the rise of national movements. The cultural role of historical interpretations.

Research Projects:

1. The historiographic controversy on the origins of the Second World War.

2. The politicization of ethnicity.

3. Narrativity and objectivity - the historian at work.

Key words: historiography; nationalism; comparative history; cultural history

Abstract of Current Research:

Munich - 1938:

This book-length study seeks to reinterpret the Munich Agreement not just as a diplomatic decision but as the necessary outcome of the conjunction, at a crucial moment, of the main processes governing the inter-war period.

Recent Publications:

Ben-Israel, H. (1991) Irredentism: Nationalism reexamined. In: Irredentism and International Politics, ed. N. Chazan, Boulder, CO, Lynne Rienner, 1991, pp.23-36.

Ben-Israel, H. (1992) National character and national leadership. In: Leaders and Leadership, eds. Z. Zahor and I. Malkin, Jerusalem, The Zalman Shazar Center, pp.235-248 (Hebrew).

Ben-Israel, H. (1992) Nationalism in historical perspective. Journal of International Affairs, 45(2): 367-397.

Ben-Israel, H. (1994) Nationalism: Animal, vegetable, mineral or cultural? Australian Journal of Politics and History (Special Issue), 40: 134-143.

Ben-Israel, H. (1996) From ethnicity to nationalism. Contention, Spring 1996, pp.51-68.