Elon Musk Visits Israel Amid Backlash Against His Endorsement of Antisemitic Post

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Elon Musk traveled to Israel and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, touring the scene of a Hamas assault in a go to that appeared geared toward calming the outcry over his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy idea on X, the social media platform he owns.

Dozens of main manufacturers suspended their promoting on X after Mr. Musk this month agreed with a submit that accused Jewish communities of pushing “hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” The flight of advertisers threatened to price X tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars}, and the White House denounced Mr. Musk for “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.”

On Tuesday, after arriving in Israel, Mr. Musk wrote on X that “actions speak louder than words.” Wearing a flak jacket, he toured Kfar Aza, an Israeli kibbutz the place dozens of individuals have been killed in the course of the Hamas terrorist assault on Oct. 7.

Video shared by Mr. Netanyahu’s workplace confirmed the 2 males, accompanied by safety personnel, strolling via the village within the rain and inspecting the blackened ruins of a home. Mr. Netanyahu mentioned on X that he gave Mr. Musk the tour “to show him up close the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas.”

In a dialog with Mr. Netanyahu broadcast on X, Mr. Musk referred to as the go to to Kfar Aza “jarring” and mentioned he additionally had been proven footage of the Oct. 7 bloodbath that he discovered “troubling.”

Mr. Netanyahu spent the majority of the dialog explaining the rationale for the struggle in Gaza. Mr. Musk mentioned in settlement that it was vital to “get rid of the ones who are hellbent on murdering Jewish people,” although he additionally added that it was vital to reduce civilian casualties within the enclave. “The rebuttal is often made that, well Israel has killed civilians also in Gaza,” Mr. Musk mentioned. “But there is an important difference here, which is that Israel tries to avoid killing civilians.”

Experts have mentioned that the killing of civilians within the Gaza Strip has been unprecedented when in comparison with current conflicts.

Mr. Musk additionally mentioned it was a problem to cease “the sort of propaganda that is convincing people to engage in murder,” an obvious reference to the ideology that had fueled Hamas’ assault. Mr. Netanyahu didn’t increase Mr. Musk’s social media submit in the course of the dialog and Mr. Musk didn’t confer with it, or to the function of X in shaping public attitudes over antisemitism.

But his go to did draw criticism from some who accused the Israeli authorities of giving Mr. Musk cowl.

“Welcoming such a toxic mogul with open arms and taking him around sites of a massacre that has been belittled, demeaned and denied on his watch should be a stain on Netanyahu’s legacy,” wrote Ben Samuels, the U.S. correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Since Mr. Musk’s submit, dozens of main manufacturers together with IBM, Apple and Disney have paused their promoting campaigns on X, and the corporate, which Mr. Musk bought in October final 12 months for $44 billion, might lose as a lot as $75 million in promoting income by the top of the 12 months. Other main firms, together with Amazon, Coca-Cola and Microsoft, have additionally halted or are contemplating pausing their adverts on the social community, in line with inner paperwork.

Mr. Musk has additionally confronted broader criticism for tolerating and even encouraging antisemitic abuse on his social media platform. He has attacked George Soros, the financier who’s a frequent goal of antisemitic abuse, and threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League, a rights group that has highlighted the rise in antisemitism on X.

In May, he likened Mr. Soros, a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor, to Magneto — the X-Men supervillain who has Jewish roots — and mentioned that Mr. Soros “hates humanity.”

That similar month, Mr. Musk solid doubt {that a} gunman behind a mass capturing in Allen, Texas, that left eight individuals useless had supported Nazi ideology, calling it a “very bad psyop.”

When requested about these feedback on CNBC in May, Mr. Musk was defiant. “I’ll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it,” he mentioned. The firm has additionally mentioned that issues over antisemitic posts on the platform are overblown.

Mr. Musk has not defined why he visited Israel, however he has had previous dealings with its prime minister. In September, he hosted Mr. Netanyahu for an occasion at a Tesla manufacturing unit in Fremont, Calif., as each males sought to deflect criticism.

“It’s not an easy thing to be maligned — I know you’ve never seen that, right?” Mr. Netanyahu mentioned in the course of the occasion.

“Me, maligned?” Mr. Musk responded, laughing. “Never.”

During that alternate Mr. Musk additionally responded to stories of rising antisemitic content material on the social community.

“Obviously I’m against antisemitism — I’m against anti-anything,” he mentioned. “And I’m in favor of that which helps uphold society and takes us to a better future for humanity.”

Following his current controversy, Mr. Musk posted an analogous assertion earlier this month, calling news tales that he was antisemitic “bogus.”

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” he wrote.

On Monday, Israel appeared to achieve an understanding with Mr. Musk over his proposal this month to deploy Starlink, the satellite tv for pc web service he owns, in Gaza for help businesses to make use of amid mobile and web blackouts. Palestinians have blamed Israel for the communications interruptions.

Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, mentioned that Mr. Musk had consented to not open entry to the system in Israel and in Gaza with out the permission of his ministry. “This understanding is vital,” Mr. Karhi wrote on X.

Following his go to, Mr. Musk wrote a submit that mentioned, “Trite as it may sound, I wish for world peace.”