Elon Musk visits Israel, tours October 7 horror sites with Netanyahu

Israel hosted Elon Musk on Monday, where he toured sites of the October 7 massacre and was shown footage of the violent acts committed by the terrorist organization on Israeli soil.

Musk voiced support on Monday for Israel after it came under attack by Hamas terrorists, saying one challenge was "ultimately stopping the propaganda that is convincing people to engage in, you know, murder."

After hearing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Hamas must be destroyed in a live online chat, Musk said: "There's no choice." Musk, visiting Israel during its war on Hamas in Gaza, added: "I'd like to help as well."

Netanyahu and Musk later held a live chat on X, which can be listened to in full below.

https://t.co/vJDbprlHhj

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) November 27, 2023

Musk visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza early Monday, where he was shown a presentation of the terror attack and listened to the head of the Negev Council, Yossi Keren, and a member of the IDF Spokesperson's unit, Liad Diamond.

Israel hosted Elon Musk on Monday, where he toured sites of the October 7 massacre and was shown footage of the violent acts committed by the terrorist organization on Israeli soil. More details: https://t.co/jqlInndUb0 pic.twitter.com/RebuXXdR6E

— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) November 27, 2023

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Elon Musk also went to the home of the Liebstein family, where Musk heard the story of the heroic acts of the late Ofir Liebstein, the head of the council who was murdered on the morning of October 7 in an exchange of fire with terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz.

Musk was also brought to the site of the abduction of Abigail Idan, a 4-year-old American-Israeli, who was kidnapped on October 7 after her parents were murdered in front of her. Idan crawled under her father's body to hide. She was abducted from the Itamari home, where Musk was shown photos taken shortly after the 7th.

Israel and Musk said an agreement in principle was reached for using his SpaceX company's Starlink communications in the Gaza Strip, where a pause to the war against Hamas coincided with the tech entrepreneur's visit.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has scheduled an afternoon meeting with Musk. They will be joined by relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and will also discuss "the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online," Herzog's office said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to meet Musk on Monday to discuss the security aspects of artificial intelligence and hold a live online discussion, Netanyahu's office said.

Musk and Netanyahu's last meeting

When they last met, in California on Sept. 18, Netanyahu urged Musk to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitism on X - the former Twitter.

Last month, as the war raged following a Hamas killing and kidnapping spree in southern Israel, Musk proposed using Starlink to support communication links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with "internationally recognized aid organizations."

At the time, Israeli Communications Shlomo Karhi objected, saying "Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist activities."

But in a new tack, Karhi said on Monday that Israel and Musk had reached an agreement in principle whereby "Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip."

Elon Musk, I congratulate you for reaching a principle understanding with the Ministry of Communications under my leadership.As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of…

— שלמה קרעי - Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) November 27, 2023

In an X post addressed to Musk, Karhi said he hoped the visit to Israel "will serve as a springboard for future endeavors, as well as enhance your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire world."

Musk has said he is against antisemitism and anything that "promotes hate and conflict" - including on X.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen worldwide, including during the seven-week-old Gaza war. Israel and Hamas are now in a temporary truce, with some Gaza hostages and Palestinians held by Israel for security offenses going free.

On Nov. 15, Musk agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth."

The White House condemned what it called an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that "runs against our core values as Americans."

Major US companies including Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal parent Comcast paused their advertisements on his social media site.

The "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory holds that Jewish people and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a "white genocide."

Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, antisemitic incidents in the United States rose by nearly 400% from the year-earlier period, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization that fights antisemitism.

Musk has said X should be a platform for people to post diverse viewpoints, but the company will limit the distribution of certain posts that may violate its policies, calling the approach "freedom of speech, not reach."