Populist rhetoric and digital politics: a case study from a Facebook campaign in Israel’s 2022 elections

This study examines far-right politicians’ use of social media to advance their political agendas and mobilise voters. It focuses on a case study of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s former Minister of National Security. It highlights his rise to power through the Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, which secured six parliamentary seats in the 2022 Knesset elections. We used automation tools to collect 1552 posts from Ben-Gvir’s Facebook page during the year leading to his political victory, followed by qualitative analysis through two primary lenses: key messaging and stylistic devices. Our investigation revealed that Ben-Gvir employed a combination of anti-elite messaging and linguistic discourse characterised by informal colloquialism, absolutist rhetoric, and negativism to attack his political adversaries. This study sheds light on the capacity of social media to serve as a launching pad for inexperienced politicians seeking entry into the mainstream by directly engaging with their audiences using tailored messages.