Charlie Kirk understood something simple that most people overcomplicate: Zionism is the belief that Jews have a right to their own homeland.
Founded by Theodor Herzl in the late 19th century, Zionism arose because Herzl recognized the antisemitism consuming Europe and knew the Jewish people needed a sovereign nation to survive. Few realize that the early Zionists even consulted with the British about several possible locations for Jewish settlement, including Uganda and Cyprus. But the only place that made sense was what was then called “Palestine” under the British Mandate, the land where Jews have lived continuously since Abraham first arrived more than 4,000 years ago.
Jews Are From Judea
That wasn’t a random choice. Before it was called “Palestine” by the Romans, it was Judea—the land that gave the Jews their name. Just as Canadians come from Canada and Americans come from America, Jews come from Judea. On The American Comeback Tour, a Christian student challenged Charlie on this point. Charlie responded:
“So Jesus Christ … himself was a Hebraic Torah observant, Shabbat observant Jew or whatever you want to call it, right? Because ‘Jew’ just means you’re from Judea. That’s all it means. Okay, you know that, right? That’s where it comes from. The Tribe of Judah then formed Judea. Jew comes from Judea. Jesus Christ himself honored the law.”
He often pointed out that the land known today as Israel has been Jewish territory for millennia.
“The most rightful claim to the land is that of the Jews,” Charlie said. “The land of Canaan, or Judea and Samaria, has been the Jews’ for well over … 4,000 years.”
The history is there for anyone willing to look. And as a devout Christian, Charlie knew his stuff. The people of Israel’s right to the Holy Land is one of the first things mentioned in Genesis, when God repeatedly promises the Land of Israel—then known as Canaan—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants. And it remains a central theme throughout the Torah (Hebrew Bible).
“Israel is mentioned over 635 times in the Torah,” Charlie told a student on a college campus, “while Jerusalem has zero religious significance in the Quran.” The word “Palestine,” he noted, came from “Syria Palaestina,” a Roman term meant to erase the Jewish connection to the land. “Israel has always been the home of the Jews,” he said.”
That’s why Charlie pushed back so hard on those who accuse Israel of “occupying” so-called “Palestine.” “How could anyone be occupying their own land?” Charlie asked. “Can anyone explain that to me? Because the Jews have been living in this land for thousands and thousands of years.”
Zionism and Judaism Are Inseparable
Charlie also rejected the notion that one could separate Zionism from Judaism. When a student once told him, “If you don’t support the State of Israel, it doesn’t mean you hate Jews,” Charlie didn’t hesitate:
“So let me get this straight—you don’t hate Jews; you just hate the Jews’ right to exist in their homeland?”
To him, that wasn’t a distinction at all—it was a disguise for antisemitism.
That didn’t mean Charlie agreed with the Israeli government about everything. He both praised and criticized the government at different times, but that had no impact on his commitment to Zionism and Israel.
“I’m not an unapologetic defender of the government of Israel,” he explained at an event. “But I am a defender of the nation state of Israel to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people.”
In fact, that was what being “pro-Israel” meant to Charlie: supporting Israel as the Jewish homeland. “I am very pro-Israel as far as the promise of the Jewish people,” he said. “Seven million individuals out of fourteen [million Jews in the world] having a home. I believe that is an idea that needs to be defended—a Jewish state in the Middle East.”
Zionism as Biblical Prophecy
But Zionism wasn’t just about a Jewish dream. To Charlie, it was a fulfillment of biblical prophecy.
“There’s a biblical prophecy that talks about Israel being spread across all the nations,” he explained, “and being bound up in normative evangelical theology, which I believe in. We believe that the creation of the state of Israel in the 1940s was a fulfillment of that prophecy.”
Throughout Scripture, there are numerous prophecies foretelling that God will one day gather the people of Israel back to their ancestral homeland in the Land of Israel:
- “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.” (Deuteronomy 30:3-5)
- “For I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you to your land.” (Ezekiel 36:24)
- “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:12)
- “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’” (Jeremiah 31:10)
When asked at the Oxford Union if the current State of Israel fulfills scripture, Charlie said, “I’m not a theologian. But I am definitely more aligned with a view of Ezekiel 36—that there is a reconstitution of the state of Israel and that was prophesied: ‘I will bring you from across the lands and graft you together.’”
For Charlie, that was the point. Not whether Israel’s government gets everything right, but whether we still believe that Jews deserve to exist as a people in their homeland. Zionism, Charlie said, is that belief—and in his view, it is also the fulfillment of God’s promise to His people. Without that, we forget that God’s promises are real—and still unfolding.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEH3VO7A2Wk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mY5ul6iInU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siaugYaqhmA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2vLlwCExP0
