[Ruy Horta]

With Goodman, if he he held a British nationality, he was British (born in Palestine).

Without historical context one is likely to transpose the situation of the modern Israeli state, now being a relatively homogenous cultural entity, with the situation in the first half of the twentieth century and the early decades of its existence. This is as wrong as regarding Israel through the distorting lens of Biblical times and the Bible.

So no, a nation can exist without state (although you can have a Jewish State, as much as you can have an Islamic or Catholic states etc), but IMHO a nation cannot be based on faith.

Of course one can argue that the Jewish faith comes with Jewish culture and shared culture brings you closer to a nation. But is that really a unique feature of the Jewish faith?

Should I not regard an American, German or Hungarian of Jewish faith not first and foremost as a American, German or Hungarian etc?