'Charlie Kirk Square': Israeli Mayor to Name Traffic Circle in Honor of 'Israel's Great Friend'

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Haaretz                                                                                                                                  September 11, 2025

'Charlie Kirk Square': Israeli Mayor to Name Traffic Circle in Honor of 'Israel's Great Friend'

PM Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry officially eulogized Kirk as 'a steadfast friend' who 'stood proudly for the Judeo-Christian values,' as Israeli ministers moved, without proof, to label the murder 'collusion between the global Left and radical Islam'

Charlie Kirk speaks at an event, in Mesa, Arizona, last year. Credit: Ross D. Franklin,AP

The mayor of the central Israeli city of Netanya has announced that the city will name a traffic circle in honor of U.S. conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead in Utah on Wednesday.

Miriam Feirberg-Ikar, mayor of the coastal city, announced on Facebook that a square in Netanya's Ir Yamim neighborhood will be named after Kirk, saying that "everyone who comes there will remember Israel's great friend."

She described Kirk, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, as a "courageous and powerful voice" for Israel, who had also dedicated his life to "standing up against the recurring waves of antisemitism," and that he "acted with great love for our people."

She shared an image of him holding an Israeli flag outside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, West Bank, a site of religious reverence and political tension. Sacred in Judaism and Islam, it is traditionally believed to be the burial place of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.

Ir Yamim, the neighborhood designated for Charlie Kirk Square in Netanya, central Israel. Credit: Courtesy

The Israeli Foreign Ministry officially eulogized Kirk as "a steadfast friend" who "stood proudly for the Judeo-Christian values that bind Israel and America."

Many of Israel's right-wing political leaders have also eulogized Kirk. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the conservative activist as a "lion-hearted friend of Israel" who "fought the lies and stood tall for Judeo-Christian civilization."

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, without substantiated proof, as the killer remains at large, lamented: "The collusion between the global Left and radical Islam is the greatest danger to humanity today," when eulogizing Kirk. He further accused the American Left of murdering him, adding in Hebrew: "Let's hope that the Israeli imitators will not succeed."

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said that Kirk's murder calls to continue "the struggle and stand together, Jews and Christians, Americans and Israelis, to ensure that freedom prevails against the sword of Islamist fanaticism and the neo-Marxist tyranny hiding behind a liberal mask."

As of Thursday, authorities were still searching for the sniper who assassinated Kirk with a single bullet before slipping away in the mayhem that followed the latest act of political violence in America.

Kirk was killed by a gunshot from a distant rooftop at Utah Valley University, where he was speaking on Wednesday, authorities said. Federal, state, and local officials said they were working on "multiple active crime scenes." As the search stretched into a second day, they provided little information about the shooter's identity, motive, location, or evidence, and were reviewing grainy security footage of a person in dark clothing.

Two people were detained on Wednesday, but neither was found to be connected to the shooting, and both were released, public safety officials said.

AP contributed to this report.