The Bibi Sitter and the Hipster: the new comical political discourse

Abstract

The article focuses on the emergence of a new comical political discourse in the 2015 Knesset elections, in which humour was adopted as a major campaign strategy and senior Israeli politicians took upon themselves the role of comedians in ad clips. The development of such discourse is presented as the culmination of an ongoing process of transformation of the political discourse in Israel since 1977. The process was inspired by the American political and media scenes, as well as by changes in Israel’s media map. Social media played a central role in the new comical discourse, as it was heavily used both for the viral dissemination of the clips and for creating engagement. But even as the affectivity of the videos was apparent in terms of the creation on ‘media buzz’, exposure and web engagement, there is still no proof to its influence on the elections outcome. Furthermore, it raises questions about the ability of the Israeli citizenry to rationally discus crucial issues and to form opinion on them.