Description
Conspiracy narratives linked to Israel, especially with antisemitic content, have rightfully attracted widespread concern. Yet, conspiracy narratives in Israel have not. Additionally, research focuses on reasons for the spread of conspiracy narratives, while their political impact remains neglected.
This paper illuminates the impact of conspiracy narratives on Israeli politics by studying the discourse of right-wing parties and movements through interviews and social media analysis. The paper argues that conspiracy narratives are closely linked to fear. While political leaders might employ conspiracy narratives instrumentally, they are deemed credible because they articulate and channel existing fears towards specific objects. By drawing on work on emotions in international relations theory, the paper shows how discourses of fear are reproduced across Israeli society. Fears of conspiracies create imagined threats of left-wing groups, media, their European supporters, and Palestinian organizations that collude to delegitimize and destroy Israel. Conspiracy narratives and the connected emotion of fear drive polarization, obstruct compromise and perpetuate conflict. They provide a vehicle for fears to move from an individual to a group level and become institutionalized.
Building on the paper’s framework will allow research to study the global impact of conspiracy narratives more thoroughly.
