Elon Musk is currently in Israel, where he visited a kibbutz that was assaulted by Hamas militants a month ago and is scheduled to meet with influential figures.
Elon Musk, who has come under fire for allegedly fostering antisemitism on his social media platform X, visited Israel on Monday. While there, he met with top leaders and took a tour of a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas militants a month ago.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister and a billionaire, took a tour of the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that was overrun by Hamas militants on October 7 in a bloody attack that precipitated the war.
According to a video released by Netanyahu’s office, Musk used his phone to take pictures or videos of the destruction while being escorted by a phalanx of security guards while donning a protective vest.
The prime minister and CEO of Tesla paid a visit to the residences of a few victims, one of whom was the family of 4-year-old Abigail Edan, an American-Israeli child kidnapped by Hamas following the murder of her parents. In the most recent round of negotiations taking place amid the Gaza cease-fire, which is scheduled to end on Monday, she was freed on Sunday.
Later, when speaking with Netanyahu on X Spaces, Musk remarked, “It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre.” Musk expressed his discomfort over images and videos that the prime minister showed him of the killings of civilians, including children.
They did not address online antisemitism, but rather discussed the conflict in general, the protests it has sparked, Hamas, the Middle East, and other topics. When Netanyahu expressed his hope that Musk would contribute to creating a better future, the billionaire said, “I’d love to help.” Additionally, Musk was scheduled to meet with Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who is currently a member of a special war Cabinet, and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Eylon Levy, a spokesman for the government, declined to comment on whether Musk arrived alone or was invited. X, the former name of Twitter, did not answer a comment request.
Shlomo Karhi, Israel’s minister of communications, tweeted earlier on Monday regarding an agreement his ministry had made with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet business.
Without going into further detail, Karhi wrote, “As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip.”
Since acquiring the platform last year, Musk has been accused of allowing antisemitic messages on it by the Anti-Defamation League, a well-known Jewish civil rights group, and others. The content on X has also come under more scrutiny since the start of the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
Many large companies, such as Disney and IBM, made the decision to withdraw their advertisements from the platform following a report by Media Matters, a liberal advocacy group, which claimed that the ads were running next to posts supporting white nationalism and pro-Nazi content.
It happened the same week that Musk supported a conspiracy theory that was antisemitic and caused outcry, even from the White House.
This month, Musk posted on X, saying, “You have said the actual truth,” in response to a user who claimed that Jews harboured hatred towards White people and showed a lack of concern for antisemitity.
In a subsequent lawsuit, X claimed that Media Matters, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, had falsified the report in order to “drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.”
This is not the first time Musk and Netanyahu have met, prior to Monday’s visit. When Netanyahu visited California in September, he told the CEO of Tesla that he hoped Musk could work within the constraints of the First Amendment to reduce antisemitism and other forms of hatred.
