The 2014 Israel-Gaza Conflict: Exploring the representation of 'Israel' in the Israeli media using a triangulation of corpus-based critical discourse analysis and discourse-based interviews

This thesis uses mixed methods to explore the reporting of the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict in the Israeli media. It specifically focuses on the representation of `Israel' in three Israeli news websites, each representing a distinctive political orientation. The analysis demonstrates that overall the Israeli media painted a surprisingly similar picture: Israel was depicted across all outlets as a victim acting in self-defence and as a conciliatory participant who has the backing of the US. I argue that this representation has served to legitimise Israel's acts of violence, thereby perpetuating conflict-supporting beliefs and fuelling the intractability of the conflict.