Billionaire Elon Musk, accused by civil rights groups of inciting anti-Semitic hatred on his social platform X, backed Israel’s campaign against Hamas on Monday after making an unusual visit to Israel during the four-day truce, which he attended with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was at the kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas on November 7 and then held a live online discussion on X Spaces with the head of the Israeli government, according to Reuters and The Times of Israel, as cited by News.ro.

Referring to his visit to Israel as a sign of solidarity, Musk placed on XMonday morning: “Actions speak louder than words.”

Along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk began his visit to Israel on Monday with a tour of a kibbutz in the country’s south, which was one of the worst hit in the October 7 attack by Hamas. During a tour of Kfar Az, Musk was shown the horrors of the Hamas attack, when the terrorists stormed the community, killing and kidnapping dozens of civilians, whom they took to Gaza.

Netanyahu showed Musk a video of the October 7 attack, edited from footage captured by Hamas militants’ body cameras, surveillance cameras and other sources. Musk said the experience was “shocking” and that he was shocked by what appeared to be “joy” from the terrorists in the video.

After that, the tour was handed over to Netanyahu and Musk live discussion on X Spaces.

Elon Musk agreed that one of the challenges is to stop the propaganda that led to the wave of killings by the Palestinian group that sparked the war in Gaza.

Musk said that X should be a platform for publishing diverse viewpoints, but that the company would limit the distribution of certain posts that might violate its policies, calling the approach “free speech, but not touch.”

Elon Musk said Monday that there is “no other option” but to destroy the terrorist group Hamas to ensure a better future for Gaza, and agreed with Netanyahu that the terrorist organization has genocidal intentions against the Jewish people, The Times of Israel reported.

The billionaire owner of Company X and head of SpaceX, however, said he would like to help rebuild Gaza after the current war and said rebuilding the territory was an important step to prevent a future war.

“If you want security, peace and a better life for the people of Gaza, then you must destroy Hamas. First you have to get rid of the poisonous regime, as was done in Germany and Japan,” Netanyahu said, to which Musk replied, “There is no other option.”

Musk also said that civilian casualties are “inevitable” and that Israel is trying to avoid them in the war against Hamas. “We need to combine firmness and destroy terrorists and those who intend to kill, but at the same time help those who remain, which happened in Germany and Japan,” he added. “I’d like to help,” Musk said.

“Those who intend to kill must be neutralized,” said Elon Musk. “The propaganda that teaches people to be criminals must stop in the future. And then let Gaza prosper. And if that happens, I think it will be a good future,” said Elon Musk.

To this comment, Netanyahu responded: “I hope you will participate. And the fact that you’ve come here, I think that speaks volumes about your commitment to trying to secure a better future.”

Musk himself was accused of inciting anti-Semitism after he agreed to publish a post on November 15 that falsely claimed that Jews incite hatred against whites. As a result, major American companies, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, have stopped advertising on X.

When they last met in California on September 18, Netanyahu urged Musk to strike a balance between protecting free speech and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over anti-Semitism at X.

On Monday, Musk was also scheduled to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Herzog’s office said he and Musk would discuss “the need to act to combat growing anti-Semitism online.”

Last month, as the war raged, Musk proposed using Starlink to maintain communications in the power-stricken Gaza enclave with the help of “internationally recognized aid organizations.” At the time, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi denied it, saying that “Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist activities.” But under the new approach, Karhi said on Monday that Israel and Musk had reached an agreement in principle, according to which “Starlink satellite devices can be operated in Israel only with the permission of the Ministry of Communications of Israel, including in the Gaza Strip.”

In X’s post to Musk, Karhi said he hoped his visit to Israel would serve as an impetus for future efforts and improve relations with the Jewish people and the values ​​they share with the world.

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