Netanyahu rips conspiracy theories blaming Israel for Charlie Kirk’s assassination

“Outrageous lies” – Israeli prime minister and US ambassador take aim at conspiracy theories spread online linking Israel to the murder of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s prime minister on Thursday morning called out conspiracy theories blaming the State of Israel for conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assassination, comparing the claims to Nazi-era propaganda.

In an English video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called accusations spread online after Kirk was shot and killed by a sniper last week “insane.”

“Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, once said that the bigger the lie, the faster it spreads. Someone has fabricated a monstrous big lie that Israel had something to do with Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder,” Netanyahu said. “This is insane. It is false. It is outrageous.”

Kirk, a co-founder of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, was a longtime pro-Israel advocate.

However, this year, some social media users suggested Kirk was shifting his position vis-a-vis the Jewish state, citing Kirk’s criticism of US airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and his opposition to legislation targeting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

After Kirk was shot to death while speaking with students at a college campus in Utah, conspiracy theories began to circulate on social media linking Kirk’s assassination to Israel’s Mossad.

Podcaster and conspiracy theorist Ian Carroll, who has appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience, was among those promoting the accusation online.

“Yesterday was a turning point for Israel US relations,” Carroll wrote on X. “Less than 24 hours and the internet already figured out who the most likely culprit was. He was their friend. He basically dedicated his life to them. And they murdered him in front of his family. Israel just shot themselves.”

In his video statement Thursday, Netanyahu rejected accusations Israel was involved in Kirk’s killing and rebuffed claims Kirk had shifted his position on the Jewish state.

“Charlie loved Israel. He loved the Jewish people. He told me so in a letter he sent me just a few months ago. ‘One of my greatest joys as a Christian,’ he said, ‘is advocating for Israel and forming alliances with Jews to protect Judeo-Christian civilization.'”

“He encouraged me to make the case directly to the American people about how vital Israel is to American national security,” Netanyahu said. “He told me that ‘the Holy Land is so important to my life that it pains me to see support for Israel slip away.'”

In debunking the claims of a rift, Netanyahu cited a recent conversation with Kirk, and Kirk’s planned address in Israel, which would have taken place later this month.

“If Charlie disagreed with a policy of mine or a decision here or there, I welcomed it. This is the essence of Charlie, the essence of a free country. It’s exactly what Charlie stood for. I knew that his suggestions always came from the heart – from his love for Israel and his love for the Jewish people.”

“A few weeks before his death, I spoke to Charlie and invited him to visit Israel again. Sadly, that won’t happen. Now, some are peddling these disgusting rumors, perhaps out of obsession, perhaps with Qatari funding. What I do know is this: Charlie Kirk was a great man, and a great man deserves honor, not lies.”