Split Loyalty: Football‐cum‐Nationality in Israel

Abstract

This essay considers a shift in the loyalty of Israeli football supporters, from the uncontested primacy afforded to the national team, to split loyalties expressed through a concrete conflict between loyalty to the local club and loyalty to the national side. This shift is related directly to the transformation of the Israeli society, which increasingly has undergone change, moving towards a more capitalist‐oriented society. Football in Israel has been commodified, which in turn has transformed the game for the clubs, the players and the fans. Consequently, in the 1990s, fans faced a situation in which their loyalty to the national side was threatened by a clash with their loyalty to their club, a paradox that remains unresolved.

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