Four months before he was assassinated, leading US conservative activist Charlie Kirk wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laying out a blistering critique of Israel’s shortcomings on social media, and warning that the country’s formerly staunch support on the US right was eroding.
The letter, published in full on Monday by the New York Post, offers seven recommendations for how Israel can revamp its public diplomacy efforts on social media, where studies show young people increasingly get their news. Kirk also offered to speak with the prime minister to consult on the issue.
“In my opinion, Israel is losing the information war and needs a ‘communications intervention,'” Kirk wrote near the beginning of the seven-page letter, sent on May 2.
Later, he added, “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.”
Kirk’s letter is the latest sign that Israel’s public diplomacy efforts during the nearly two-year war in Gaza are faltering, and that the country is facing mounting criticism from right as well as left in the United States. In a stark shift from previous years, a series of polls have indicated plummeting support for Israel among Americans, including a decline among Republicans.
“I regret to report that anti-Israel and anti-Semitic trends are at record levels on social media,” Kirk wrote, adding that his critique came “from a place of deep love for Israel and the Jewish people.”
He added, “These negative sentiments then flow downstream into college campuses and even seep into the conservative MAGA community.”
Kirk, a prominent supporter of US President Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement, was killed on September 10 while speaking at a university in Utah. He was on one of the campus tours for which he gained fame, where he would take questions and debate with college students.
“On my recent campus tours, half the questions I get are about Israel and they’re all negative,” he wrote. “I’m trying to convey to you that Israel is losing support even in conservative circles. This should be a 5 alarm fire.”
He added that students say Israel is an apartheid state and accuse the country and Jews of running American foreign policy and of perpetrating the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
He castigated Israel for neglecting the social media arena, saying its public relations efforts feel like they’re 50 years old.
“I’ve seen your IDF spokesman defend Israel standing at a dimly lit podium,” he wrote. In a reference to a mid-century iconic American news anchor, he continued, “This looks like a scene out of the 1970’s – like some old Walter Cronkite clips of the TV news.”
He also took Netanyahu to task for relying on external advocates and having a meager staff of spokespeople. He contrasted the prime minister with Trump, whose spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, has daily, often combative briefings with the press.
“Sometimes, it feels like I’m defending Israel in public more than your own government,” he wrote.
He added, “The President has strong fighters like [Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller and Karoline Leavitt who battle the press every day. Honestly, I don’t even know if you have a press secretary. You are an eloquent defender of Israel, but you need a team of information warriors out there pushing back every day in real time.”
Netanyahu, who has previously complained of Israel’s lackluster public diplomacy efforts, acknowledged the letter in a statement days after Kirk’s killing, and quoted from it.
Now, voices on the American right are pointing to the letter to debunk allegations that Kirk privately opposed Israel.
“Kirk expresses his love for Israel and repeatedly offers pointers for how they can win the information war so they do not lose support,” wrote Ryan Saavedra, a conservative writer with a large social media following, regarding the letter. “It is not at all what anti-Semites claimed it was.”
Kirk’s recommendations included measures like a social media hub called the Israel Truth Network, staffing public diplomacy efforts with young people who are well-versed in social media, as well as some efforts that have already occurred to some extent, such as speaking tours by released Israeli hostages and Israeli efforts to help in global disaster zones.
He also recommended that Israel approach its public relations like a political campaign on behalf of a candidate he described as “a younger woman who grew up on social media” and whom he dubbed “Miss Israel.”
“Right now there’s essentially a massive negative ad campaign spreading on social media,” he wrote. “These negative ads are defining this candidate… Many of the PR challenges Israel faces should be looked at through the prism of a political campaign. Like any campaign, the first task is to define the candidate.”
Israel, he wrote, was committing “PR malpractice” by not having a resource akin to a campaign website to trumpet its arguments.
Kirk also repeated some American right-wing talking points, claiming that “Our generation was also lied to by the governments of Israel and the U.S. that covid vaccines were safe and effective,” and warning of risks as “Muhammadism spreads into Western societies.”
He also nodded to Netanyahu’s ongoing trial for corruption, writing that the prime minister was being threatened by the “deep state” and that the revamped social media strategy could help him as well.
“I know you also have a serious deep state lawfare challenge,” he wrote. “My team and I have been fighting the deep state every single day for many years. Maybe a revamped information war strategy can help with your internal fights as well?”