Echo chambers of a nation on the brink: narrative warfare and the construction of reality in Israel’s judicial reform crisis

Israel’s 2023 judicial reform ignited a profound national crisis. This article examines the media’s crucial role by comparing the mainstream Channel 12 and the staunchly right-wing Channel 14 within a polarised, hybrid media ecosystem. Qualitative analysis reveals their construction of two irreconcilable realities: Channel 12 framed the reform as an authoritarian threat to democracy, while Channel 14 depicted it as a heroic restoration of the people’s will. The study argues these channels became active combatants, amplifying and crystallising narratives circulating online to create powerful echo chambers that eroded a shared factual basis, deepened the national crisis, and illustrated how partisan media can accelerate democratic decay.