WASHINGTON (TNND) — Months before his assassination, Charlie Kirk wrote a seven-page letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggesting that he needs to “revamp” Israel’s social media presence in an effort to win over Gen-Z.
In the May 2 letter obtained by the New York Post, Kirk said that Israel was “losing the information war” and was needing a “communications intervention” to help combat against the rising anti-Israel sentiment in the United States. Kirk shared that a Harvard Harris poll showing that 48% of 18-24 year old Americans support Hamas over Israel is an accurate reflection of the rhetoric and questions he is asked during his visits on college campuses. Kirk shared that he is often confronted with comments such as “Israel is an apartheid state,” “Why does Israel conduct ethnic cleansing?” and “Why is Israel trying to drag us into a war in the Middle East?”
“I’m accused of being a paid apologist for Israel when I defend her; however, if I don’t defend Israel strongly enough, I’m accused of being anti-semitic,” Kirk wrote. “But I’m trying to convey to you that Israel is losing support even in conservative circles.”
“This should be a 5-alarm fire,” Kirk continued.
He told Netanyahu that he can’t continue to rely on “surrogates in America” to share Israel’s “information war efforts,” offering instead seven recommendations to help Israel fix its image.
At the top of the list, Kirk called for Netanyahu to develop an equivalent to President Donald Trump’s White House Rapid Response 47 team on social media, suggesting that Netanyahu find his own Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt who can push back against anti-Israel claims in real time. Coinciding with a rapid response team, Kirk suggested that Netanyahu put together a “team of pro-Israel experts who can fact-check misinformation in real time from Israel.
You need something perhaps like an ‘Israel Truth Network’ (ITN) which can include social media channels and a one-stop source of information website where, for example, all the negative Israel questions I get can be thoroughly debunked.”
Kirk also called for Netanyahu to send the released October 7 hostages on a speaking tour, saying it could be “very effective messaging.” He called them the “spokespersons” that could argue Hamas is “committing genocide on their own people by using civilians as human shields and storing weapons in schools, hospitals etc.”
Kirk also suggested that Netanyahu push for man-on-the-street interviews of “regular Israelis.”
“Let Israelis explain in their own words how Israel is a pluralistic society, a free country with elected leaders unlike all of the surrounding authoritarian Arab nations,” Kirk wrote.
Throughout the letter, Kirk emphasized the great need for “third-person voices” who can defend Israel. He shared that while Netanyahu is an “eloquent defender” for Israel, there needs to be the establishment of Israeli surrogates, particularly young people.
“Majority of staff in these efforts should be in their 20s and 30s,” Kirk wrote. “The older generation alone is not going to win the information war on social media. You need to fill the ranks with young people who grew up with cell phones and social media — not pay phones and TV news.”
Netanyahu previously shared the existence of Kirk’s letter on September 18 — just eight days after Kirk’s assassination. The letter’s publication comes the same day that Netanyahu is meeting with Trump to discuss the plan to end the Gaza War.
