A Lion Hearted Friend of Israel

Last night the world was shaken by the tragic news that Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University. He was only thirty one years old. Charlie Kirk was not simply another commentator in the political arena. He was a lion-hearted defender of Israel and a bold advocate for Judeo-Christian civilization. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned him as “a lion-hearted friend of Israel” who “fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization.” Israeli activist Yoseph Haddad added, “We lost a true friend of the State of Israel. A brave man who defended our country with determination, stood up to pro-Palestinians without hesitation, and carried out Israeli hasbara (advocacy) even though he was neither Israeli nor Jewish.”

Charlie Kirk grew up in suburban Chicago and by the age of eighteen co-founded Turning Point USA, the youth movement that became one of the most influential conservative forces in America. He was an outspoken evangelical Christian who tied his political vision directly to his faith. Israel was central to that vision. He visited Israel several times, including in 2018 when the U.S. Embassy moved to Jerusalem, and later declared in a Jerusalem speech, “I’m very pro-Israel. I’m an evangelical Christian, I’m a conservative, I’m a Trump supporter, and my whole life I have defended Israel” (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 10, 2025). For Kirk, supporting Israel was not a side issue but a defining part of his identity. He brought that message to countless college campuses, churches, and conferences across America, making the case that standing with Israel was both a moral imperative and a biblical conviction.

Charlie’s wife Erika posted a verse in the hours after his death:

אֱלֹהִ֣ים לָ֭נוּ מַחֲסֶ֣ה וָעֹ֑ז עֶזְרָ֥ה בְ֝צָר֗וֹת נִמְצָ֥א מְאֹֽד׃

God is our refuge and stronghold,
a help in trouble, very near.

The words land heavily now. If God is our refuge and strength, why do men fall to bullets for speaking truth? Why does someone standing before a crowd with words on his lips meet such an end? That question runs through Scripture and through our own hearts. What does it mean to stand for truth in a world that tries to silence it with violence?

Erika’s choice of Psalm 46 is striking. The verse does not promise that trouble will vanish. It acknowledges that troubles are and will always be the backdrop of human life. But it declares that in the midst of chaos, God is a refuge. The psalmist says, “God is in its midst, it will not be toppled; by daybreak God will come to its aid.” (Psalms 46:1) Even when the most permanent things collapse, God remains the immovable shelter. Violence may strike and nations may rage, but God’s strength is greater than human malice. That is the hope Charlie’s family and all who loved him must cling to now.

Charlie Kirk’s life was also a reminder that silence in the face of lies is not an option. He stood in lecture halls and public squares and said what he believed to be true, often in hostile environments. That willingness to confront falsehood with words is deeply biblical. The prophets of Israel did the same, standing before kings and scoffing crowds, declaring God’s word without trembling. Truth tellers have always been hated for unmasking what others want hidden, yet the call has always been to keep speaking.

Charlie’s voice has been silenced by murder, but his mission cannot be. To defend Israel, to fight lies, to insist that free people must be able to speak truth without fear, this is a calling that belongs to all who love righteousness.

We cannot live in a world where killing replaces argument. We cannot allow bullets to dictate which words may be spoken. The Torah’s command is absolute: Lo tirtzach — You shall not murder. And the psalm’s assurance is unshakable: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalms 46:1). That truth must be our anchor as we mourn, as we stand for what is right, and as we refuse to yield truth to terror