Purpose: The aim of the current study was to explore emotional closeness and emotional distance between Arab teachers who teach in the Jewish State Educational System and their Jewish counterparts in the school. Design/methodology/approach: The research used semi-structured interviews with 16 Arab and Jewish teachers in Israel. Findings: The authors identified patterns of emotional closeness and emotional distance among Arab and Jewish teachers, perception gaps among Jewish and Arab teachers and the factors affecting emotional closeness/distance among them. Empirical and practical implications are suggested. Originality/value: The study sheds light on the emotional aspects of multicultural educational teams and workplaces and increases our understanding of the complexity of teacher emotion in multi-ethnic and multi-religious staffrooms.