Operational Code Analysis of Benyamin Netanyahu in Foreign Policy

Benyamin Netanyahu with more than fifteen years of experience as prime minister has been a major role in shaping the Israeli foreign policy. Knowledge about his central beliefs and cognitive approaches can play an important role in understanding Israeli foreign policy. The question is, what cognitive approach does Netanyahu have in foreign policy? Have these cognitive approaches been constant or changed over time? The aim is to explore Netanyahu's central beliefs as one of the main factors influencing Israeli foreign policy. In this regard, Netanyahu's verbal materials in foreign policy were examined between 2009 and 2019, using the conceptual framework of operational code analysis and the “verbs in context system” method in comparing to a norming group average of world leaders. The results of the quantitative analysis of Netanyahu’s speeches by Profiler Plus software show that there is a significant difference between Netanyahu's philosophical and instrumental beliefs in the second & third terms (2009-2015) on the one hand, and his beliefs in the fourth term (2015-2019), on the other hand. In the first round, Netanyahu saw the nature of the political universe in harmony with Israel's interests. Moreover, he realized political values in adopting a cooperative strategy, and the usefulness of utilizing cooperative tools with regards to other actors. In the second round, he considered the nature of the political universe in conflict with Israel's interests, realizing values in pursuing a limited cooperative strategy, and the usefulness of employing cooperative and conflictual tools versus other political actors.