A STORY OF US VS THEM IN BENJAMIN NETANYAHU’S ADDRESS TO CONGRESS IN 2024

Abstract

Adopting Van Dijk’s Ideological Square and Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar this study conducts a critical discourse analysis of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress on July 25, 2024. It tries to uncover the discursive construction of the Self (Israel, US, allies) and Other (Hamas, Iran, proxies) during the Gaza War. Five key themes— victimhood, self-power and defense, global threat of the Other, alliance and unity, and glorification of the Self—that frame Israel as a morally superior defender of civilization against a barbaric, existential threat are identified. Through transitivity structures, material processes position the Self as a proactive agent and the Other as a violent aggressor, while relational processes assign positive qualities to the Self and negative traits to the Other. Discursive strategies, including hyperbole, parallelism, and selective evidence, align with van Dijk’s model by emphasizing the group polarization of the Us versus Them dichotomy. Netanyahu’s speech reinforces a polarized narrative to justify Israel’s military actions and rally US support. This study highlights how political discourse manipulates linguistic and ideological tools to shape power dynamics and public perception in times of conflict.