“With G-d's help, we will win”: Hypernationalism and fantasmatic logic in Benjamin Netanyahu's discourse after Hamas's attack of October 7, 2023

This article examines how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified war for international audiences following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack. Drawing on a corpus of 217 English-language speeches and statements from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office (2023–2024), it reconceptualises hypernationalism through Lacanian theory and Critical Fantasy Studies. The analysis shows that Netanyahu's discourse was structured around existential assumptions, aspirations of national fullness, enemies as existential threats, and heroic guarantors. The findings suggest that war was framed not as a contingent response but as a symbolic necessity that organised desire, naturalised antagonism, and legitimised violence.