Charlie Kirk was one of Vice President JD Vance’s best friends.
Vance and Kirk would talk often.
And JD Vance revealed Charlie Kirk had this secret fear that was bigger than anyone realized.
In an interview with podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey, Vice President Vance addressed the brewing debate on the right over America’s relationship with Israel.
This debate turned up to 11 after President Trump decided to go to war with Iran, leading some on the right, like Tucker Carlson, to claim Trump took the nation to war for Israel.
A recent report in the Times of Israel revealed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to enlist American media figures like Mark Levin to try to shape the contours of a final Iran nuclear agreement.
Hey @marklevinshow, I’m getting really sick of you attacking President Trump.
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) June 20, 2026
This report came out a couple of days ago, and I haven’t seen you respond to it.
Are you working with a foreign government to try to influence the American people’s opinion and President Trump’s deal… https://t.co/hdfpjV0AOI pic.twitter.com/K4pe39r2iK
Stuckey asked Vance whether Israel exerted undue influence on American politics.
Vance argued that Israel, and every other country on earth, tried to influence American politics as just a fact of life.
“Israel tries to influence American politics,” Vance stated.
Vance went on to say that Israel is an ally, like any other.
“They’re a good partner in the same way that the United Kingdom or France are good partners,” Vance added.
But Vance said it was important for leaders to make decisions that are solely in the best interests of the American people and not any other nation.
“American leaders have to be very careful that when we pursue something, we’re doing it in America’s best interest, not in the interest of any other country.”
Vance then said that many pro-Israel advocates make the mistake of conflating any criticism of Netanyahu or the Israeli government with anti-Semitism.
The Vice President also revealed that Charlie Kirk had two great worries about Israel: anti-Semitism growing in the U.S. and Israel’s influence over American politics.
“Look, sometimes criticism of Israel bleeds into Jew hate. It just does. Charlie was very aware of this, by the way. Charlie was very worried about Israeli influence in American politics. He also really disliked anti-Semitism, but I, in the same way that sometimes criticism of the Israeli government can be expressed in a way that’s anti-Semitic. It’s just not the case that every criticism of Bibi Netanyahu’s policy decisions leads to anti-Semitism,” Vance continued.
🇺🇸🇮🇱 JD Vance on Charlie Kirk:
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 19, 2026
" Charlie was very worried about Israeli influence in American politics. He also really disliked antisemitism.
It's just not the case that every criticism of Bibi's policy decisions leads to antisemitism."
Writer: Oliverpic.twitter.com/V0d5sjMJL0 https://t.co/nD5uUhAWlx
Charlie Kirk was a proud Zionist who also saw that Israel was losing support on the right.
An April Pew Poll found 57 percent of Republicans between the ages of 18 and 49 held an unfavorable view of Israel.
Kirk spent his final months on earth trying to bridge this divide and warn GOP leaders that they had a problem brewing on their hands with how they communicated with young Americans.
But as strongly as Kirk supported Israel, he also grew frustrated with the aggressive tactics of its supporters.
Leaked text messages show Kirk getting angry over pro-Israel donors threatening to withhold donations unless Kirk canceled a speech by Tucker Carlson.
“Just lost another huge Jewish donor. $2 million a year because we won’t cancel Tucker,” Kirk wrote, “Jewish donors play into all the stereotypes.”
Kirk went on to say he wouldn’t give in to intimidation tactics and that it would cause him to “leave the pro-Israel cause.”
“I cannot and will not be bullied like this,” Kirk also wrote, going on to say that this left him “no choice but to leave the pro-Israel cause.”
The debate over Israel figures to feature prominently in the 2028 GOP primary as neoconservatives will likely field Ted Cruz as their candidate to challenge Vice President Vance.
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