Haaretz editor-in-chief blasts Musk visit to Israel

The editor in chief of Israeli news outlet Haaretz blasted Elon Musk’s visit to Israel, calling the tech billionaire a “blatant antisemite and publisher of antisemitism” amid backlash over antisemitic content on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Blatant antisemite & publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel,” Haaretz editor-in-chief Esther Solomon wrote in a post on X, which Musk owns. “Instead, Netanyahu — plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy — gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of them.”

Alongside Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz Monday, touring one of the villages targeted in militant group Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel. Following the visit, which included meeting some of the families of victims, Musk said in an X Spaces conversation that it was “jarring to see the scene of the massacre.”

Musk was also briefed on some of the details of the attack, along with information about Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old American-Israeli citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack. She is among the dozens of hostages released as part of Israel’s four-day truce with Hamas.

Musk came under fire earlier this month after appearing to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory that suggested antisemitism was carried out by minorities and that Jewish people were to blame. This claim is in line with false conspiracy theories claiming Jewish people want to flood Western countries with minorities.

He later went after he Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group that advocates against antisemitic and other hate speech, claiming the group “unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel.”

The White House railed against Musk’s post, calling it “unacceptable.”

Musk’s X faced increased controversy days later, when a report from liberal watchdog Media Matters for America said it found ads for companies including Apple, Bravo, Oracle, Xfinity and IBM placed next to posts celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party on the platform.

Several companies halted their ad spending as a result.

Two days after Musk posted the controversial message, he announced “euphemisms” including “decolonization” and “from the river to the sea” would be prohibited from X, saying they “imply genocide.”

The decision was welcomed by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who said “he “appreciates this leadership in fighting hate.” Greenblatt’s apparent praise for the tech giant sparked backlash, to which the ADL chief said the organization will “call out when they get it wrong” and “credit them when they get it right.”

The war between Israel and Hamas has been deadly, with the militant group’s attack on Israel last month killing least 1,200 Israelis, and the ensuing airstrikes and ground offensive Israel carried out in in Gaza killing more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the territory.

The fighting is currently under a four-day truce set to expire at the end of Monday unless the two sides can come to an agreement to extend the cease-fire. An extension would likely be contingent on the release of additional hostages, which Israel and Hamas have indicated they may be open to.

The Hill reached out to X for comment.