“I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political”: Rhetorical analysis of Netanyahu’s speech on the Iran nuclear deal as a securitizing move

This case study aimed to demonstrate the ways in which a politician attempted to turn a political issue into a security matter through discourse. Drawing on Social Constructivism, Securitization Theory, and Classical Rhetoric, we examined Israeli Prime Minister’s speech given to the US Congress regarding the Iran nuclear deal on March 3, 2015. Our goal was to show how Netanyahu constructed Iran as a security threat to Israel and the whole world. In doing so, we flagged rhetorical devices Netanyahu employed in his speech and discussed his resorting to Aristotle’s Triad of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos to make his speech appealing to the audience and thus a successful securitization move. The study demonstrated that the five elements of securitization theory including the threatening subject and threatened object were systematically constructed in the speech through various discursive strategies and rhetorical devices. This study demonstrates benefits of discourse analysis for research in politics and international relations.