During Elon Musk’s visit, Israel said on Monday that it had secured a basic agreement to use the communications system of his SpaceX company in the Gaza Strip. The visit coincided with a ceasefire in the fight against Hamas.
The trip has not yet been addressed by Musk’s staff.
Musk and Israeli President Isaac Herzog have set up an afternoon meeting. In addition to discussing “the necessity to act to counteract rising antisemitism online,” Herzog’s office claimed that relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will join them.
According to Netanyahu’s office, Musk and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Monday to talk about the security implications of AI and to have a live online conversation.
When they last met on September 18, in California, following weeks of uproar over antisemitism on X, the former Twitter, Netanyahu encouraged Musk to find a balance between defending free speech and combating hate speech.
Musk suggested utilising Starlink to support communication links in the Gaza Strip that were affected by the blackout with “internationally known aid organisations” last month, as the conflict flared in response to a Hamas assassination and kidnapping spree in southern Israel.
“Hamas will exploit it (Starlink) for terrorist activity,” Israeli Communications Shlomo Karhi protested at the time.
In a change of direction, however, Karhi announced on Monday that Musk and Israel had arrived at a basic understanding that states that “Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip.”
I hope the trip to Israel “will serve as a springboard for future endeavours, as well as deepen your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire globe,” wrote Karhi in a post on X that was directed for Musk.
Musk has declared his opposition to anything that “promotes hate and conflict,” including on X, as well as antisemitism.
The seven-week-old Gaza conflict is hardly the only instance of the global rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia. A brief ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has resulted in the release of certain Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel for security-related offences as well as the release of several captives from Gaza.
Musk said that the person who brought up the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory was expressing “the genuine truth” on November 15, agreeing with a post on X that made the bogus assertion that Jews were inciting hatred against White people.
As something that “goes against our core beliefs as Americans,” the White House denounced the “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist bigotry.”
Source (CNBC)
