Elon Musk visits Hamas-hit Israeli areas, meets Netanyahu to clear name in antisemitism row

Entrepreneur Elon Musk during his visit to Kfar Aza, a kibbutz targeted by Hamas, toured with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and viewed footage of Hamas attacks in October.

Musk's visit to Israel follows accusations of antisemitism related to him and his social media platform, X. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, emphasised Musk's "important role" in combating antisemitism, pointing to concerns about antisemitic content on X.

In a live-streamed conversation on X, both Musk and Netanyahu agreed on the necessity to eliminate Hamas for peace.

"You first have to get rid of the poisonous regime as you did in Germany, as you did in Japan. Yeah, in World War Two," Mr Netanyahu said.

Mr Musk replied: "There's no choice. There's no choice."

The trip also involved discussions about Musk's satellite internet service, Starlink, with an agreement limiting its use to Israel and Gaza with Israeli government approval. This decision followed concerns that Starlink could be utilized by Hamas.

Elon Musk's visit comes amid controversies, including major advertisers, such as Apple, Disney, IBM, and Comcast, pausing ads on X due to their placement next to pro-Nazi content.

Musk responded with a legal challenge against the investigating group, Media Matters for America.

Furthermore, Musk faced criticism for appearing to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, leading to condemnation from various quarters, including the White House.