Manufacturing Consent: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Benjamin Netanyahu's Speech to the United States Congress in 2024

Abstract

In this paper, the researchers investigate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before a joint session of the US Congress on July 25, 2024. The researchers primarily aim at highlighting the ideology behind Netanyahu's speech by using qualitative research through the application of critical discourse analysis (CDA), which is employed here in in order to show how certain linguistic choices can manipulate and determine concepts related to power and ideology. The CDA method used is Discourse Historical Approach with the main focus on argumentation management through discursive strategies. The researchers adopt DHA by Wodak (2009) with focusing on the taxonomy of social actor representation by Van Leeuwen (2008). The study reveals that language has an extremely effective role in shaping opinions and changing perspectives while exposing speakers’ ideology and agenda behind their political rhetoric.