Despite growing scholarship on populism, the function of conspiracy theories within right-wing populist discourse remains underexplored. This article addresses this gap by analysing the 2023 judicial reform in Israel as a moment of populist mobilization rooted in conspiratorial discourse. I argue that conspiracy narratives should be understood as affective tools employed by populist actors to produce public fears that legitimize populist policy agendas. Empirically, the article draws on semi-structured interviews with Israeli right-wing figures as well as an analysis of online newspaper articles and social media posts. It demonstrates how right-wing populist actors deploy conspiracy narratives to construct public fears that justify the judicial reform. It shows how these actors portray the judiciary as a ‘deep state’ intent on undermining Israel, subverting the will of the (Jewish) majority, and sabotaging the reform. By emotionally sharpening the populist distinction between ‘the people’ and ‘the elite’, they frame the reform as a necessary defence against an existential threat. The article’s theoretical contribution lies in theorizing the affective role of conspiracy narratives in right-wing populism and in advancing a broader understanding of the relationship between conspiracy discourse, affect, and populist policymaking.
Johannes Sauerland (Thu,) studied this question.