Elon Musk arrives in Israel amid accusations of antisemitism

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - American billionaire Elon Musk landed in Israel on Monday amid accusations of antisemitism after his recent endorsement of an anti-Jewish conspiracy theory, the Israel Broadcasting Authority said Monday.

"President Isaac Herzog meets on Monday with businessman Elon Musk," the Israeli president's office said in a statement.

Representatives of families of hostages held by Palestinian group Hamas will also join in the meeting, the statement added.

Herzog's office added that the president will urge Musk to take action against growing online antisemitism, which researchers say has proliferated on X (formerly Twitter) since Musk bought the platform a year ago.

Two days after endorsing an antisemitic post on X saying that Jews are stoking hatred of white people, on Nov. 18 Musk also announced his intention to suspend any account expressing support for Palestine.

He claimed that accounts using terms such as "ending colonization" and "from the river to the sea" are "euphemistic phrases calling for genocide against Jews" and involve "clear calls for extreme violence."

On Nov. 17, the White House condemned what it termed the "reprehensible promotion" of antisemitism by Musk after calling the baseless conspiracy theory “the actual truth.”

Earlier on Monday, Israel announced a preliminary agreement with Musk to activate Starlink satellite internet services in Gaza without Israel's approval.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara