Yair Auron (Hebrew: יאיר אורון, Ya'ir Oron; born April 30, 1945) is an Israeli historian, scholar and expert specializing in Holocaust and genocide studies, racism and contemporary Jewry.

Since 2005, he has served as the head of the Department of Sociology, Political Science and Communication of The Open University of Israel and an associate professor.

He earned a master's degree from The Hebrew University, and a Ph.D. from the Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris (France).

From 1974 to 1976, Auron worked as the director of the Education Department inside the Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem).

From 1996 to 1999 he was a senior lecturer and head of the Division of Cultural Studies at the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel.