Musk, Netanyahu to meet amid tensions over antisemitism on X platform

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and billionaire Elon Musk are planning to meet next week to address tensions surrounding the rise of antisemitism on the Musk-owned X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter. 

The prime minister’s office announced the meeting, scheduled for Monday in the U.S., which will also include discussions on artificial intelligence.

The meeting comes as Musk, who purchased the social media platform last October, has been accused of allowing the spread of antisemitism and hate speech on the site.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recently called Musk out on the matter, with ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt saying Musk has “amplified” the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban their organization. 

Musk pushed back against Greenblatt’s claims, accusing the organization chief in a series of X posts last week of “falsely accusing” him of being antisemitic, which resulted in his site losing revenue.

“Since the acquisition, The @ADL has been trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic,” Musk wrote in his post. “Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (that’s what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!”

Musk also claimed that his site would file a defamation claim against ADL, saying that the lawsuit would accuse the organization of “destroying half the value of the company,” which he valued at $22 billion. 

Since Musk’s acquisition, X has undergone a slew of changes, including the removal of blue verification badges and limiting the number of direct messages a user can see. 

Greenblatt, who recently met with X CEO Linda Yaccarino, said he’s “willing to work” with the platform on addressing the antisemitism issue. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.