Israel hosted tech entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday and announced a preliminary agreement with his SpaceX company to use Starlink communications in the Gaza Strip, coinciding with a pause in the war against Hamas terrorists. Although Mr. Musk’s office has yet to comment on the visit, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has scheduled a meeting with Musk to discuss the need to combat rising antisemitism online, among other topics. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to meet with Mr. Musk to discuss the security aspects of artificial intelligence.
Mr. Musk has previously proposed using Starlink to support communication links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with international aid organizations. Israeli Communications Shlomo Karhi initially objected to this, but on Monday announced that Israel and Mr. Musk had reached an agreement in principle to only operate Starlink satellite units in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including within the Gaza Strip.
During the visit, Mr. Karhi expressed hope that Mr. Musk’s visit to Israel would enhance their relationship and serve as a springboard for future endeavors. Mr. Musk, himself, has stated that he is against antisemitism and anything that promotes hate and conflict. Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen worldwide during the Gaza war, and Mr. Musk faced criticism after agreeing with a post that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. This led major U.S. companies to pause their advertising on Musk’s social media site. The “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, which claims that Jewish people and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations, was at the heart of this controversy.
Despite these issues, Mr. Musk has stated he believes in the importance of diverse viewpoints while emphasizing that the company will limit the distribution of certain posts that may violate its policies. Following the outbreak of the Gaza war, antisemitic incidents in the United States rose significantly.