Israeli Politics · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Leaked Contract Says Turning Point USA Sponsored IFCJ Faith Summits, Paying $700,000
Leaked contract links TPUSA to Israel-aligned IFCJ for faith-summit sponsorship. Contract shows about $700,000 in payments to fund the faith summits.
Whether faith-Israel links or spiritual revival matter most.
7 of 8 outlets skipped it: TPUSA allegedly signed an IFCJ contract worth $700,000.
10outlets compared
Same story, two versions
tap a side to read it in full
The Grayzone
“A leaked contract obtained by The Grayzone reveals that TPUSA entered into an agreement with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)”Read the original ↗
Word&Way
“In the days after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025”Read the original ↗
The Grayzone stresses alleged pro-Israel ties, while Word&Way emphasises faith revival and internal divides after Kirk’s death.
TPUSA, Israel-linked sponsorship
A leaked contract obtained by The Grayzone says Turning Point USA (TPUSA) entered an agreement with the Israel-based International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ) to sponsor faith-based summits between 2025 and 2027, signed May 16, 2025.T
“Signed on May 16, 2025, the contract committed IFCJ to pay $700,000 to TPUSA over two years.”
The contract committed IFCJ to pay $700,000 to TPUSA over two years in exchange for promotional benefits including main stage speaking slots for IFCJ President Yael Eckstein and distribution of pro-Israel “activism kits” to over 200 college campuses.
The Grayzone also quotes Eckstein saying, “We’re a non-governmental organization, but we effectively distribute the aid so well that the government of Israel asks the Fellowship to build projects for them during times of emergency.”T
In the same account, The Grayzone links the contract to a dispute around Charlie Kirk’s criticism of Israel, describing that Kirk had publicly anguished over demands from “Jewish ‘stakeholders’” threatening to pull support unless he stopped providing space at his events to conservative critics of Israel like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly.
The Grayzone further says TPUSA’s largest donor, Robert Shillman, withdrew $2 million in contributions four days before Kirk’s killing after denouncing Kirk’s criticisms of Israel at a private gala.T
Faith programming and internal divide
One year after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, Leona Salinas, Turning Point chapter president at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, said she fielded dozens of urgent inquiries from peers eager to join TPUSA.
RNS reported that Turning Point said in December that 140,000 students requested to get involved after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and Kristan Hawkins called the response “a revival.”
But Salinas said interest on her campus dwindled as conspiracies spread from conservative influencer Candace Owens, who “has insinuated to her millions of followers that Erika Kirk, the state of Israel, and others close to Charlie Kirk were involved in his killing.”
Salinas described the effect on student tabling, saying, “‘What do you think of Erika? What do you think really happened to Charlie? Do you think Israel had anything to do with this?’ I’m telling you, every single chapter when tabling gets asked that question several times a day.”
The same RNS account says TPUSA’s widow, Erika Kirk, took over as CEO after her husband’s death and that the organization’s faith-focused programming described Kirk as a martyr and its political efforts as part of a spiritual battle between the godly and demonic.
Israel politics and competing narratives
The Jerusalem Post frames the post-Kirk contest over Israel policy and antisemitism around Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes, saying they are “vying to fill the vacuum left by Kirk's assassination and reshape his movement's views on Israel and antisemitism.”
“Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes are vying to fill the vacuum left by Kirk's assassination”
In that same account, the Jerusalem Post describes a Turning Point USA chapter at Queens College where Ariel Akbashev joined last fall eager to be part of a conservative movement whose leader Charlie Kirk had convinced him was a place for a young, pro-Israel Jew.
The Grayzone, by contrast, portrays TPUSA’s Israel stance as having been buried after Kirk’s death to maintain support from IFCJ, saying TPUSA entered into the IFCJ sponsorship while Kirk’s widow, Erika, reversed critical positions on the US-Israeli special relationship.
The Grayzone also says TPUSA’s 2026 “Make Heaven Crowded” tour stirred controversy after a photo showed a giant Israeli flag hanging over the stage at an event at Cielo Vista Church in El Paso, Texas on August 29.T
Amid criticism from conservative grassroots, TPUSA spokesman Andrew Kolvet is quoted saying, “The church put [the Israeli flag] up all on their own. We don’t micromanage churches, especially when they’re gracious enough to host us.”