Legitimating War and Retaliation in #IsraelUnderFire and #PrayForIsrael

This study investigates two popular trending social media hashtags following the resurgence of armed conflict of unprecedented scale between Israel and Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attacks. #IsraelUnderFire and #PrayForIsrael are pro-Israeli hashtags that attempt to legitimize violence and war against Palestinians. Our analysis applies van Leeuwen's 2007 framework of discursive legitimation strategies, and shows how Israel and its supporters sought to justify the war in Gaza on the basis of religious spiritual authority and the right to divine promise. While #IsraelUnderFire further constructs Israel's claimed rights to self-defense and the right to exist, #PrayForIsrael recontextualizes the U.S. war on terror, evoking a sense of victimhood. Our findings suggest that the two pro-Israeli hashtags construct the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a religious war while seeking to legitimize Israel's retaliation as resistance to Palestinian aggression.