American billionaire Elon Musk (C) and Israeli delegation, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R), go to the Kfar Aza settlements in southern Israel, one of many areas focused by Hamas on Oct. 7, in Kfar Aza, Israel on November 2023.
GPO Israel | Anadolu | Getty Photographs
Israel hosted Elon Musk on Monday, saying it had reached an settlement in precept for utilizing his SpaceX firm’s Starlink communications within the Gaza Strip, the place a pause to the battle in opposition to Hamas coincided with the tech entrepreneur’s go to.
Musk’s workplace has but to touch upon the journey.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has scheduled a day assembly with Musk. They are going to be joined by relations of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and also will talk about “the necessity to act to fight rising antisemitism on-line,” Herzog’s workplace mentioned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can also be as a result of meet Musk on Monday to debate the safety elements of synthetic intelligence and maintain a dwell on-line dialogue, Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned.
After they final met, in California on Sept. 18, Netanyahu urged Musk to strike a steadiness between defending free expression and combating hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitism on X – the previous Twitter.
Final month, because the battle raged following a Hamas killing and kidnapping spree in southern Israel, Musk proposed utilizing Starlink to assist communication hyperlinks within the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with “internationally recognised support organizations.”
On the time, Israeli Communications Shlomo Karhi objected, saying “Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist actions.”
However in a brand new tack, Karhi mentioned on Monday that Israel and Musk had reached an settlement in precept whereby “Starlink satellite tv for pc items can solely be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, together with the Gaza Strip.”
In an X submit addressed to Musk, Karhi mentioned he hoped the go to to Israel “will function a springboard for future endeavors, in addition to improve your relationship with the Jewish folks and values we share with the complete world.”
Musk has mentioned he’s in opposition to antisemitism and something that “promotes hate and battle” – together with on X.
Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen worldwide, together with throughout the seven-week-old Gaza battle. Israel and Hamas at the moment are in a brief truce, with some Gaza hostages and Palestinians held by Israel for safety offenses going free.
On Nov. 15, Musk agreed with a submit on X that falsely claimed Jewish folks had been stoking hatred in opposition to white folks, saying the consumer who referenced the “Nice Substitute” conspiracy concept was talking “the precise reality.”
The White Home condemned what it known as an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate” that “runs in opposition to our core values as Individuals.”
Main U.S. firms together with Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal mother or father Comcast paused their ads on his social media web site.
The “Nice Substitute” conspiracy concept holds that Jewish folks and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural substitute of white populations with non-white immigrants that can result in a “white genocide.”
Following the outbreak of the Gaza battle, antisemitic incidents in america rose by practically 400% from the year-earlier interval, in accordance with the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit group that fights antisemitism.
Musk has mentioned X must be a platform for folks to submit numerous viewpoints, however the firm will restrict the distribution of sure posts which will violate its insurance policies, calling the method “freedom of speech, not attain.”
