United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee went on social media Thursday to rebut rumors that Charlie Kirk had no longer supported Israel before his assassination last month.
Such rumors have been spread by right-wing media figures in the weeks following Kirk’s death.
“I’m so disappointed in people with a media platform who have disparaged Charlie’s name and his views by alleging that Charlie had become anti-Israel,” Huckabee wrote on X, citing a New York Post article on a seven-page letter that Kirk sent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May.
The letter revealed Kirk, who often defended Israel during his visits to college campuses, expressed concern about prevalent “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic trends” hitting “record levels on social media.”
“My team and I have spent months analyzing these trends and debating ideas that could help you and your country pushback against these disturbing developments. Anti-Israel sentiment can undermine American support for Israel,” the late conservative activist wrote.
“The purpose of this letter is to lay out our concerns and outline potential remedies,” he wrote. “Everything written here is from a place of deep love for Israel and the Jewish people. I think it’s important to be brutally honest with those you love. In my opinion, Israel is losing the information war and needs a ‘communications intervention.'”
Netanyahu first responded to the letter in a video on Sept. 17, seven days after Kirk’s death, to dispel the rumors that Israel was behind his murder, as some online accounts claimed.
Huckabee said the letter “defies the self-serving ‘influencers’ trying to twist the truth” without singling out anyone.
“In the 1st paragraph of the letter, [Kirk] mentions taking over my TV show before offering very sound advice to the Prime Minister about the importance of the ‘message war’ that Israel must play in a world of antisemitic hate,” the ambassador wrote.
“I hope you will read the [Post] story in full including the full letter. Let it hopefully end the vicious lies that Charlie had ‘turned against Israel’ or the even more ridiculous blood libel (stated or inferred) that Israel had something to do with Charlie’s death,” he wrote.
Some of the theories about Israel’s involvement in Kirk’s death have been spread by conservative pundit Candace Owens, who claims the Turning Point USA co-founder was going to turn his back on Israel and bring her back into the TPUSA fold. Additionally, Owens alleged Kirk was blackmailed into defending Israel in public while questioning U.S. support for the Jewish state in private.
In the letter, Kirk said he was “defending Israel in public more than” the Israeli government at times and urged Netanyahu to stop “subcontracting” efforts in the information war to pro-Israel American surrogates.
Following his address at the United Nations General Assembly last week, Netanyahu met with American influencers in New York City to discuss how Israel can use social media to influence public opinion amid its war with Hamas in Gaza.
