A Cognitive Analysis of The Israeli Narratives of Victimization in Gaza wars

Victimization narratives are a significant factor in the Gaza war. Israel, with all military power, shows itself as a victim in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fake Stories, whether intentionally created or inadvertently spread, can significantly impact international public opinion. It affects policy decisions, influences public support, and contributes to the perpetuation of the conflict. The researcher employs a cognitive model in a mixed method to analyze ten Israeli narratives that were presented in media reports, TV stations, and social platforms during the period from 6 June 2017 to 15 February 2024. Recognizing the cognitive semantics of victimization narratives helps observers determine reporters' goals and reduces potential adverse effects. The use of qualitative and quantitative analysis has found that the Israeli victimization narrative has specific aspects of cognitive semantics following Lakoff & Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory (1980), Kövecses (2020). It also has found that Israel gained different goals throughout the victimization narratives; the most frequent goals are to shape public opinion, attain emotional response, justify the war against Gaza, Enhance Jewish identity, marginalize Palestine, and prejudice Hamas