Was Charlie Kirk Really Pro-Israel?

Takeaways:

• Kirk visited Jerusalem in 2019 and called it a faith-defining moment
• He defended Israel on hostile college campuses, often facing half a room of opposition
• He personally observed Shabbat every week and was writing a book about it
• His final letter to Netanyahu warned Israel was losing young Americans
• Israel mourned him as a genuine friend

Charlie Kirk spoke about Israel more than almost any other topic in his career. His support showed up in his habits, his choices, and the people he surrounded himself with. Here’s where that record stands out most.

He Went to Jerusalem Before It Was Popular

In 2019, an Israeli grassroots group called Im Tirtzu invited Kirk to speak in Jerusalem. He showed up, engaged a live Israeli crowd, and said plainly: “I’m very pro-Israel… and my whole life I have defended Israel.”

That trip stayed with him. He later wrote that Israel had “changed my life, strengthened my faith, made the Bible pop into reality.” A return visit was already scheduled for January 2026. He never made it.

For anyone who has stood on biblical soil and felt the words of Scripture shift from ancient text to present reality, that language makes complete sense.

He Defended Israel On Hostile Campuses

Kirk built his name going to college campuses. It wasn’t a friendly crowd for pro-Israel arguments.

According to Rabbi Pesach Wolicki of Israel365Action, nearly half the questions Kirk fielded at campus events were hostile challenges about Israel. Voices inside the America First movement pushed him to drop his support. He didn’t.

Wolicki wrote in The Jerusalem Post: “He knew full well that it cost him political capital to stand with Israel, and he did it anyway.”

A lot of people defend Israel when it’s comfortable. Kirk did it in rooms where it wasn’t.

📖Read here about 6 powerful ways you can stand with Israel today

He Observed Shabbat Every Single Week

This one surprised people.

In December 2023, Wolicki and colleagues from Israel365 hosted a Friday night Shabbat dinner at AmericaFest in Phoenix. They let Kirk’s office know. He showed up unannounced.

That evening, Kirk talked about how he and his wife had been observing the Jewish Sabbath. Every Friday at sundown, he put his phone down. No interviews, no podcasts, no events. He came back to it Saturday night.

For the founder of the largest grassroots political organization in America, that was a serious commitment. He was also writing a book about it, titled Stop in the Name of God, set to be published posthumously.

This wasn’t performance. It was practice. That put him in a different category from commentators who talk about biblical values without living inside any of them.

His Response to October 7 Was Immediate

When Hamas attacked on October 7, 2023, Kirk went on The Charlie Kirk Show the same day.

“The horror and the barbarism here is hard to even comprehend,” he told his audience. “Israel is now at total war.” 

He argued for Israel’s right to self-defense and spent the following months pushing back against what he described as “visual warfare,” the media campaign designed to flip world opinion against Israel through manipulated narratives from Gaza.

He defended Israel’s military campaign as legitimate counterterrorism. He called reports of famine in Gaza exaggerated. In a media environment that was shifting fast, his position held steady.

His Last Act Was Preparing to Defend Israel

Weeks before his assassination in September 2025, Kirk sent a personal letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu. His message: Israel was “losing the information war” among young Americans. He wrote: “The Holy Land is so important to my life, it pains me to see support for Israel slip away.”

The Jerusalem Post later reported that Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office began implementing recommendations from that letter.

The night before Kirk’s final campus tour, he held a Zoom call with Wolicki and a small group of advisors. The subject was Israel. He wanted to be ready for the questions he knew were coming from students.

That was the last meeting he held.

After his death, Netanyahu called him a “lion-hearted friend of Israel.” Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described him as an “incredible friend.” The city of Netanya named a street after him.

Why His Record Still Matters

Kirk’s support for Israel wasn’t driven by polling numbers. It came from his reading of the Bible and his belief that the biblical covenant with the Jewish people was still in effect.

He observed Shabbat. He walked Jerusalem. He prepared to defend Israel hours before he was killed.

His critics may keep arguing about out-of-context clips. The record is what it is.

Want to keep reading? Here are 20 pro-Israel influencers you need to know. Explore more on faith, values, and the Land of Israel at Sinai Project.