Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk warned Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a growing wave of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment in the United States, adding that advocating for Israel was one of his “greatest joys” in life.
Kirk’s final letter to Netanyahu, published on Monday by the New York Post, expressed frustration over what Kirk saw as a massive failing by Israel to fight for its own interests in the public square. Kirk urged the prime minister to consider a “communications reset” and build an approach to public relations modeled off the Trump administration’s.
“The purpose of this letter is to lay out our concerns and outline potential remedies,” Kirk wrote. “Everything written here is from a place of deep love for Israel and the Jewish people.”
“I know you’ve got a 7 front war and my kvetching pales in comparison. But I’m trying to convey to you that Israel is losing support even in conservative circles,” Kirk wrote. “This should be a 5 alarm fire.”
The late conservative commentator gave the prime minister a series of recommendations on how to approach the information war raging across social media and driving anti-Israel bias even among the “conservative MAGA community.” He also warned that the wave of antisemitic content on social media was bleeding into college campuses, where Kirk could often be found advocating for conservatism.
“Israel is getting CRUSHED on social media and you are losing younger generations of Americans, even among MAGA conservatives. In my opinion, you are losing the information war which will eventually translate into less political and military support from America,” said Kirk. “The Holy Land is so important to my life, and it pains me to see support for Israel slip away.”
Some of Kirk’s recommendations included hiring an aggressive public relations team, mentioning White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and White House official Stephen Miller as examples of people who know how to fight. Kirk also urged Netanyahu to task his government with creating a “one stop shop” for rapid response to counter the most pressing questions of the day about Israel’s conduct in war, its treatment of minorities, its use of U.S. aid, and other issues pressed by anti-Israel voices.
Throughout the letter, Kirk expressed his support and joy for defending Israel and the Holy Land. But he also vented significant frustration. Kirk repeatedly expressed that he was taking on the responsibility that should rightfully be shouldered by the Israeli government. Kirk could play a supporting role, but “pro Israel surrogates like me should not be in charge of fact checking every piece of anti-Israel information that pours into social media,” he wrote.
Kirk suggested that Netanyahu even launch an “Israel Truth Network (ITN)” to begin to counter rampant anti-Israel stories going viral across social media platforms such as X and TikTok. The pundit suggested a number of concrete ideas, such as getting normal Israelis to go on camera and talk about what they love about their country, or capture video of Israeli planes dropping warnings ahead of airstrikes to save civilian lives.
Kirk suggested that Israel create public relations material out of Israeli efforts to help the United States recover from natural disasters. The project would show the world that Israel is on the side of “humanity.”
Kirk offered his private number to Netanyahu to discuss the letter further, as well as any way Kirk’s team could assist the prime minister in putting into action any of the suggestions listed in the letter.
Though Kirk was always clear about his support for Israel, his views have come under new scrutiny after he was assassinated. The letter offers additional clarity to his views, putting an end to any effort to rewrite the history of his views on the issue.
