- Charlie Kirk advised Netanyahu to revamp Israel's information warfare strategy completely
- Kirk highlighted rising anti-Israel sentiment among Gen Z and on social media platforms
- He urged creating a rapid response media team to counter misinformation in real time
Right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated earlier in September, advised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his focus should be on winning the "information warfare", adding he should not depend on "subcontracting" it to "surrogates in America".
"Mr Prime Minister, I urge you to REVAMP your information warfare strategy from top to bottom," he said.
In a seven-page letter, Kirk also flagged the “anti-Israel sentiment” among Gen Z, something he said he observed during his interactions with students and people on college campuses. The May 2 long note also referred to an alarming rise in “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic trends” on social media, The NY Post reported.
“My team and I have spent months analysing these trends and debating ideas that could help you and your country push back against these disturbing developments,” he said. “Anti-Israel sentiment can undermine American support for Israel.”
His first suggestion to Netanyahu: "You need a rapid response media team," along the lines of President Trump's White House Rapid Response 47 team.
"You are an eloquent defender of Israel, but you need a team of information warriors out there pushing back every day in real time," he said, addressing the Israeli Prime Minister.
He suggested "putting together a team of pro-Israel experts who can fact-check misinformation in real time from Israel."
Kirk added that Netanyahu could also consider sending the released hostages on a speaking tour across the US.
"Interview regular Israelis and see what they think about the country," he said, adding the country could also do a better job at explaining the threat it faced from Iran.
"A paradigm shift is needed in how Israel presents itself to the world, especially on social media," he added.
His next suggestion was about the image. "Consumers of social media are aware of the billions in supplies we send to Israel, but they're less aware of what America gets in return," he said, suggesting Netanyahu and his team needed to make the argument on social media that Israel was a great friend of America and vital to its national security.
"Israel needs to better portray itself as a member of 'TeamHumanity, '" he said.
Kirk also feared that Israel was losing the information war, "which will eventually translate into less political and military support from America."
"The Holy Land is so important to my life, and it pains me to see support for Israel slip away."
On September 10, the former Trump aide was speaking at Utah Valley University when he was shot dead. Twenty-two-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested a day after the murder. He faces the death penalty on a charge of aggravated murder.
