Jerusalem — Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, visited Israel on Monday to meet with Netanyahu and to see the damage caused by Hamas in a kibbutz last month. The visit was part of his effort to address the backlash he faced for endorsing an anti-semitic post on his own platform.
Musk was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Kfar Azza, one of the kibbutzim that was attacked by Hamas on October 7. The kibbutz was where four-year-old Abigail Edan, an American-Israeli dual citizen, lived with her parents before they were killed and she was kidnapped by the militant group. She was released on Sunday after being held captive for more than a month.
Musk and Netanyahu had a live online chat on X, in which Musk agreed with Netanyahu that Hamas must be eliminated.
“They are murderers who must be stopped. And their lies must be exposed,” Musk said. “They are brainwashing people to become killers.”
He also said that Gaza should be developed and improved.
“That would be a good future for everyone,” he said. “I would be happy to help in any way I can.”
Musk also had a private meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who wanted to stress the importance of fighting antisemitism online, according to a statement from his office. The statement also said that some of the relatives of the hostages taken by Hamas would join the meeting and tell Musk about their ordeal and their anguish.
Musk and Netanyahu visited the home of Abigail Edan in the kibbutz and learned about her family’s tragic story, the Israeli government press office said.
“The prime minister and Musk went to the Edan family home, where Musk listened to the story of four-year-old Abigail Edan, who lost her parents and was abducted to Gaza by Hamas. She was freed yesterday after being in Hamas captivity,” the press office said.
Musk’s trip to Israel came after he faced criticism and boycotts for agreeing with an anti-semitic post on X earlier this month. The post claimed that Jewish communities promote “hatred against Whites” and that they want to bring “hordes of minorities” to Western countries to undermine White majorities. This is a common antisemitic conspiracy theory spread by online hate groups.
Musk replied to the post by saying: “You have spoken the truth.”
Musk later clarified that he did not think that all Jewish communities hate White people.
But he also attacked the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a global organization that combats antisemitism, for “unfairly targeting the majority of the West, even though the majority of the West supports the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they are not allowed, by their own rules, to criticize the minority groups who pose the biggest threat to them.”
Musk’s comments came at a time when hate crimes against Jews and Muslims have increased in the US. He was condemned by human rights groups and politicians for his remarks.
Musk has since denied being racist, writing on X last week that any allegations that he is antisemitic are “completely false.”
