Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised fallen American conservative leader Charlie Kirk on Monday, during a press conference with visiting Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The purpose of the meeting had been to discuss joint the way forward in Gaza, as Israel closes in on Hamas in Gaza City; to discuss ongoing efforts to free the Israeli hostages; to discuss the recent Israeli attack on Hamas terrorists in Doha, Qatar; and to coordinate diplomatic efforts ahead of a push by anti-Israel countries for a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu began by thanking President Donald Trump and the United States for their support, and criticizing the “weak government” that “are putting pressures on us because they collapse under the pressure of Islamist minorities and incredible vilification.”
Rubio reciprocated the warm feelings of the Trump administration toward Israel, and noted that the U.S. was participating in the opening of an archaeological find to the public — namely, the Pilgrims’ Road, which Jews took to reach Jerusalem in the days of the Holy Temple, 2,000 years ago, and where Jesus likely preached to travelers on the road to the Temple Mount.
He said that the U.S. agreed with Israel on the goal of the upcoming Israeli offensive in Gaza: “Hamas needs to cease to exist as an armed element that can threaten the peace and security of the region,” he declared.
An Israeli journalist, speaking in Hebrew, asked whether the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which President Trump had said would lead to an investigation of left-wing organizations in the U.S., would have similar ramifications in Israel.
Netanyahu answered:
First let me say Charlie Kirk was an tremendous, tremendous friend of Israel, and he believed and discussed with me how to defend Israel, how to defend Western civilization. He actually wrote a detailed memorandum suggesting how we should do that. He saw our battle as a common one for our common values and our common freedom. He also believed in having free discourse. And he was, I think, a great American patriot, a believer in the in the freedom and liberties that America gave to the world, and a believer in the common foundation of our civilization, which he attached to this city, this country, this land.
He was struck down. I think the the most important thing is to make sure that his legacy isn’t struck down, that it continues to live. Now, you know, some people are irreplaceable. Charlie was 31 years old. My own brother was 30 years old when he fell in the rescue of hostages in Entebbe. And you know, some of these people come once in a in a century, but it’s their legacy that has to live on. So, we’re committed. I’m committed. And I know the president, President Trump is committed — and I’m sure that’s true of of Secretary of State Marco Rubio — to make sure that that legacy lives on.
How to address the threats is what you’re saying. How do you actually address threats of the poisonous incitement of the people who don’t believe in free speech, who believe in the imposition of their views on others, who speak of democracy but actually want to trample democracy into the dust. How do we deal with that? I think it’s a common problem. I think the world right now, the western world, America, Israel, are being challenged by extraordinary violence ffrom political opponents within the countries. Extraordinary violence. President Trump has — there’s been two attempted assassinations on him. One nearly succeeded. I’ve been targeted myself with death threats which are pretty much daily. My family is targeted, and so are ministers and public figures. They’re harassed. They’re threatened in Israel and in America. And this is a challenge to our democracy.
Democracy is supposed to be the nonviolent resolution of conflict within a society. Nonviolent resolution. The decisions are made not by bullets, but by ballots. And these people increasingly are more and more violent. And the more they speak of democracy, the more they threaten it. They basically say that the greatest danger to democracy is democracy. “You’re not going to have the rabble decide. I mean, these people who go to the polls, who are they? We are the enlightened ones. We’re raised above that. That’s the true democracy. The true democracy is to ensure that there is no democracy.” And there’s the double talk. There’s the use of words that mean entirely different things. And that certainly won’t derail us. But I’m sure that we should take all the actions independently and jointly to protect our liberties, our way of life, our democracies.
Netanyahu had met with Kirk during a visit to Israel in 2018, when Kirk praised the Israeli prime minister as a “special leader.”
Kirk had been more critical of Netanyahu in recent years, but remained supportive of Israel.
Rubio noted that Charlie Kirk “wasn’t just someone who supported the president,” but also a personal friend to a lot of people in the White House,” including the president and vice president.
“Charlie was one of the few people out there that was actually engaging what we need more of, and that is debate and conversation among people with strong disagreements.”
He noted that Charlie Kirk not only did one-sided podcasts and interviews, but engaged those whose views were “diametrically opposed” to his own, such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
He warned that the assassination of Charlie Kirk was not only an attack on him and his views, but an attack on the effort to engage people from the other side.
“Once a society loses the ability of people with strong disagreements to engage in discourse, then the only option you’re left with is either silence or violence. Neither one of which is acceptable. Both are very destructive,” Rubio concluded.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
