The managing director of the social network X (formerly Twitter), Elon Musk, arrived in Israel this Monday in the middle of the Gaza war. With this visit, the American tycoon is trying to get rid of the anti-Semitic accusations that have been leveled at him. “Israel is trying to avoid the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip,” he said in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who served as his guide in Kfar Aza, one of the communities where Hamas carried out the Oct. 7 attack. Musk expressed surprise at the “evil” acts of Palestinian jihadists who “gloated” over the deaths of civilians, even children or babies, and pointed out that the “propaganda” that leads to these “murders.” , must be stopped.
The owner of the popular social network had to listen to criticism from President Isaac Herzog, who said that X was a breeding ground for anti-Semitism. “You play a very important role and I think we have to fight them together, because unfortunately there is a lot of hatred among the platforms that you lead, namely hatred of Jews, which is anti-Semitism,” the president said, accusing him. Israeli, reports The Times of Israel.
For his part, Netanyahu, who moderated the lecture on his X-Profile, repeatedly spoke of the Holocaust and Hamas as the new “Nazis” and “monsters” that shoot, burn, behead and rape civilians. The prime minister took the lead during the 23 minutes in which Musk, who was on the call, repeatedly nodded to his arguments.
סיירתי עם אילון מאסק בקיבוץ גד האנושות שביצע חמאס @elonmusk
(צילום: עמוס בן גרשום, לע״מ) pic.twitter.com/aipX6ryv7T
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 27, 2023
After ending Hamas, Israel’s first war target, will come the “deradicalization of Gaza, something that will take some time, especially in the mosques and schools” where children are indoctrinated, the prime minister said. Musk emphasized that at the same time as ending Hamas, it is necessary to help the rest of the population. As the director of
inevitable deaths
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Netanyahu, who visited troops in Gaza on Sunday, responded to criticism of the deaths of nearly 15,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, arguing that it was inevitable and that as the Nazi army fought in Germany, there were also “many, many, “Many” have died. Civilians. The Oct. 7 attack, the worst Israel has suffered in its 75-year history, left around 1,200 dead and a war that is heading toward two months, according to Israeli authorities. The Prime Minister wanted to show Musk, even via video, some of the toughest scenes of that day.
There, in places just outside the Gaza Strip, the battle for intelligence, information and communication is also taking place, in which Musk is also a key player. Before the meeting with Netanyahu, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced that an agreement had been reached to use the Starlink internet connection satellite system from SpaceX, a Musk company, in Israel – and also in Gaza. Of course, Karhi makes it clear that Musk accepts that this should always be done under the supervision of the Israeli authorities. The minister considers this system to be an important tool in the fight against Hamas, as he just announced via his X profile.
Elon Musk, I congratulate you on reaching an agreement in principle with the Ministry of Communications under my leadership.
Due to this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can operate in Israel only with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of…
— 🇮🇱שלמה קרעי – Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) November 27, 2023
Both wore bulletproof military vests and accompanied Musk to the kibbutz (agricultural community) of Kfar Aza, just two kilometers from Gaza, where the head of X was able to hear testimony about the massacre. Musk arrives in Israel despite allegations of anti-Semitism being made against him in recent weeks, and the issue is surfacing in the shadow of the conflict. Aware of the controversy surrounding him, Musk announced on November 21 that profits made by advertisers or subscribers related to the Gaza War would go to hospitals in Israel, as well as to the Gaza Red Cross and the Red Cross Crescent will be donated.
The company and its director turned to the courts in the United States last week to try to resolve the loss of advertisers, including some from prominent business empires such as Apple, Disney and IBM. He blames these millions of dollars in losses on the “blatant smear campaign” of Media Matters, a left-wing nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, which in turn accuses X of spreading anti-Semitic or inflammatory messages. In Europe, the rise in anti-Semitic acts has led to a wave of complaints about the censorship of expressions of support for the Palestinians.
Stop misinformation
On October 10, three days after the Hamas attack, the EU sent a letter urging Musk to stop disinformation and illegal content in the shadow of the conflict and threatening him with sanctions. This complaint is expressed in the freedom of distribution of images of other conflicts or even video games by a social network whose company has abandoned the voluntary code against disinformation in order to comply with European laws to which other companies such as Facebook or Google have joined. On 12.
Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and Elon Musk (center) during their visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the kibbutz attacked by Hamas, this Monday in a picture distributed by the Israeli government. Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) (Getty Images)
Musk’s arrival in Israel comes amid the huge impact he is having on social media, a war in which Israel has already killed nearly 15,000 people in the Gaza Strip. The images of destruction and death in this Palestinian enclave, some of extreme violence, affect millions of people every day and have become an influential mouthpiece in the face of Israel’s blockade of reporters’ access to the main theater of war. Israel has tightened its anti-terrorism law and is trying by all means to prevent demonstrations of solidarity with the population of Gaza, especially with the 20% who represent the Israeli Arab population.
The tycoon’s trip takes place on the last day of the ceasefire that Israel agreed with Hamas for four days and a few hours, before the fourth and so far last exchange of hostages in the hands of the Islamists for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. .
Musk, with global influence, has become a crucial player not only in the war between Israel and Hamas. In recent months, his role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been highlighted by both sides. On the one hand, Starlink is a central tool with which Ukraine is trying to counter the invading Russian troops. It was the director of X himself who, two days after the great invasion, confirmed that he would strengthen the service in that country at the request of the local authorities. On the other hand, Musk himself said that he did not expand his service’s coverage to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally occupied by Russia since 2014, in order not to become complicit in the attempt by local troops to attack the Russian fleet.
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