Commenting on Kirk killing, Netanyahu says he, too, is threatened by political violence

Israel and the US are facing “extraordinary violence” from political opponents, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after being asked about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“President Trump, there’s been two attempted assassinations against him,” says Netanyahu. “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.”

“These people increasingly are more and more violent,” he continues. “And the more they speak of democracy, the more they threaten it. They basically say that the greatest danger to democracy is democracy.”

Netanyahu calls Kirk a “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,” Netanyahu continues. “He also believed in having free discourse. He was a great American patriot, a believer in the freedom, 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,” says the prime minister. “The most important thing is to make sure that his legacy isn’t struck down, that it continues to live.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Kirk’s killing was like “a death in the family,” noting that he was a personal friend of many in the Trump administration.