Elon Musk Kisses the Ring: Supports Israel’s Assault On Gaza
(Chaz Anon) Elon Musk is facing a backlash after going to West Jerusalem and afterwards expressing support for Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Musk showed up in southern Israel on Monday at the personal invitation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he was given a tour of an Israeli kibbutz allegedly left desolate by the Oct.7 Hamas raids.
Musk, who traveled to the Middle East following accusations of anti-Semitism in the United States, said Israel has no choice but to “destroy Hamas,” after meeting with the country’s leadership.
His endorsement of Israel’s military actions and his alignment with Netanyahu’s views have sparked controversy, with critics questioning whether he is being biased in his assessment without visiting the Gaza.
As part of Musk's visit, he and PM Netanyahu held a live talk via X Spaces (recently known as Twitter Spaces) wherein the prime minister repeated his call for Hamas to be destroyed. Musk responded, "There's no choice," and said after touring ravaged kibbutzes: "I'd like to help as well." The full section of that exchange is below:
Netanyahu laid out that his main priority is to neutralize Hamas, after which he will turn to rebuilding Gaza: "You first have to get rid of this poisonous regime."
Musk agreed and offered to be involved in the post-war recovery.
"I think that makes perfect sense that those who are intent on murder must be neutralized, then the propaganda must stop ... and then making Gaza prosperous," Musk said.
"Well, I hope you’ll be involved," Netanyahu responded.
"I’d love to help," Musk said.
During the broadcast, Musk agreed with most of Netanyahu’s arguments.
“If you want security, peace, and a better life for Gazans, then you need to destroy Hamas. You first have to get rid of the poisonous regime as was done in Germany and Japan,” said Netanyahu.
“There’s no choice,” Musk replied, adding, “You need to pair firmness and taking out the terrorists and those intent on murder, and at the same time help those that remain, which is what happened in Germany and Japan.”
Musk’s visit to Israel was announced on Sunday by President Isaac Herzog, whose office said the American billionaire would be told of “the need to act to combat rising anti-Semitism online.”
During the meeting, Herzog told Musk that “under the platforms you lead, unfortunately, there is a harboring of a lot of old hate, which is Jew hate, which is antisemitism,” according to the Times of Israel.
“You’ve seen how evil can supersede everything, you’ve seen this morning what hate can bring about, you’ve seen how… thought turns into evil turns into hate and into bloodshed,” Herzog argued, urging Musk to crack down on “Jew hate” on X.
Speaking about the film that Netanyahu had shown him, Musk described Hamas as people who have been “fed falsehood since they [were] children,” so they thought that murdering innocent people was a good thing.
“That’s how much propaganda can affect people’s minds,” he added.
Musk has denied allegations that X was enabling or tolerating anti-Semitism, pointing out that he has banned advocacy of “genocide of any group” and clarifying that phrases such as “decolonization” and “from the river to the sea” – often used by pro-Palestinian activists – “imply genocide” and can be grounds for a ban.
