Charlie Kirk urged Israel to boost media strategy before assassination

His letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed the need for a major online presence to increase American support.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Four months before his assassination on a college campus on Sept. 10, American conservative political activist and media personality Charlie Kirk wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with suggestions on how to improve Israel’s image in the U.S., The New York Post revealed Monday.

Kirk, widely known as a staunch defender of Israel on his shows and in debates across America, called advocacy for the Jewish state one of his “greatest joys as a Christian.”

He warned that “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic trends are at record levels on social media … flow into college campuses and even seep into the conservative MAGA community,” adding that “anti-Israel sentiment can undermine American support for Israel.”

MAGA, for “Make America Great Again,” is President Donald Trump’s signature line and refers to his most fervent supporters.

It should be “a 5-alarm fire” that Israel is losing support in these circles, Kirk wrote.

“Israel is losing the information war,” he stated, especially among young Americans, and it should not fall to “surrogates” like him to counter accusations that Israel is an apartheid state, committing genocide in Gaza, or controlling U.S. foreign policy.

Kirk then listed numerous recommendations on how Israel should fight back, first and foremost by becoming a major presence on social media, where he believes “Israel has retreated without a fight.”

Yet it is this arena where “you fight for the hearts and minds of the younger generation,” he wrote, because platforms like X, TikTok and Instagram are where they get their news and opinions.

“Start the Israel Truth Network (ITN),” he advised, to distribute messaging “to all the pro-Israel groups and thought leaders.”

Suggesting that public diplomacy be treated like a political campaign, he wrote that there should be a “one-stop shopping resource” online where people could learn all about the “candidate” – Israel.

Along with Israel’s “platform,” all the “toughest questions” should be listed on a website, “with detailed expert responses (add footnotes),” he wrote.

He said articulate spokespeople must push Israel’s message daily and creatively, and a “rapid response media team” should debunk misinformation in real time.

Still, he stressed, “the most effective response is for the candidate to PERSONALLY respond,” urging Netanyahu to post more on social media and give more English-language interviews, calling him an “eloquent defender” of his country.

But Israel must find “more first-person voices to defend her,” he added, and suggested sending released hostages to go on a U.S. speaking tour.

Their stories, he wrote, could highlight that Gazan civilians showed them no compassion — a message he said had strongly impacted Trump when he met some of them.

In addition, Kirk recommended showcasing Israel’s contributions to U.S. security and innovation, noting that many Americans only think of the billions in U.S. aid to Jerusalem.

“Israel is the Silicon Valley of the Middle East,” he concluded, with “an abundance of brain power and technological expertise. The question is whether Israel has the willpower to step up its game in this information war.”

Benjamin NetanyahuCharlie KirkhasbaraSocial media