Israeli Politicians Prioritize Security, Mention Netanyahu Heavily in Election Social Media
Translated & summarized from Globes by baba
An analysis of Israeli politicians' social media activity before the elections revealed a heavy focus on security and frequent mentions of Benjamin Netanyahu. While Netanyahu was the most mentioned politician, economic issues were largely absent from the discourse, with Yaron Zelicha being a notable exception. This election cycle saw a decreased emphasis on economic topics compared to previous years, with security and recent events dominating the conversation.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Israeli politicians' social media posts heavily featured security and frequent mentions of Benjamin Netanyahu.
- Benjamin Netanyahu was the most mentioned politician by rivals, appearing 1,611 times.
- Economic issues were largely absent from the election discourse on social media.
- Moshe Feiglin posted the longest tweets, with 55% of his content focused on security.
- Words like "October 7th," "Hamas," and "Gaza" were prominent in political discussions.
- Yaron Zelicha was the only politician to significantly focus on economic topics.
An analysis of over 3,200 posts and 1,400 videos on X (formerly Twitter) by 12 leading Israeli politicians between July 17 and October 20 revealed a strong focus on security and frequent mentions of Benjamin Netanyahu. The social media platform was chosen for analysis as it offers direct and accessible communication between candidates and voters, reflecting their public discourse and agendas.
Moshe Feiglin posted the longest tweets on average, with 55% of his content dedicated to security, the highest proportion among the analyzed politicians. "Israel," "government," and "state" were the most frequent words used across all posts, underscoring national priorities. The words "October 7th," "Hamas," and "Gaza" also featured prominently, indicating the ongoing impact of recent events on the political discourse.
Benjamin Netanyahu was the most mentioned politician by his rivals, appearing 1,611 times, significantly more than any other figure. Netanyahu, in turn, focused his mentions on figures like Gantz (151), Yair Golan (135), and Avigdor Lieberman (101). Surprisingly, Mansour Abbas, who posted only twice during the period, was mentioned 170 times, more than Naftali Bennett and four times more than Yair Lapid.
Economic issues were largely absent from the discourse. "Money" was the first economic term to appear, at 25th place, followed by "economic" and "price." Yaron Zelicha was an exception, with approximately 65% of his posts focusing on economic topics. In contrast, economic content constituted only 8.5% of Netanyahu's posts, 4% for Ben-Gvir, and a single post for Deri. Even Naftali Bennett dedicated only 20% of his posts to the economy.
Compared to the previous election cycle four years prior, the focus on economic issues like the cost of living has diminished further. While Avigdor Lieberman's economic posts dropped from 24% to 7%, and Deri's from 15% to zero, only Bezalel Smotrich saw an increase, from 2% to 9%, after assuming the role of Finance Minister.
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