Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is leaping to billionaire Elon Musk’s defense after left-wing critics accused him of doing a Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s inaugural rally.
Netanyahu posted a statement Thursday on X, the social media platform Musk owns, saying that Musk is a friend to the Jewish state and the subject of false smears.
“Elon is a great friend of Israel. He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Netanyahu said.
“He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state.”
His statement responded to an X post from Musk criticizing pro-Hamas leftists for calling him a Nazi, given the fact that Hamas perpetrated the most deadly attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7, 2023.
“The radical leftists are really upset that they had to take time out of their busy day praising Hamas to call me a Nazi,” Musk said. He previously dismissed the left-wing backlash by asserting that falsely equating people to Hitler is not longer an effective line of attack.
Musk spoke at Trump’s Washington, D.C., rally inside Capital One Arena Monday to celebrate Trump’s inauguration and resounding electoral victory.
“My heart goes out to you,” Musk said, as he put his hand on his heart and then thrust his hand out in an awkward attempt to mime the act of throwing his heart to the crowd.
“It is thanks to you that the future of civilization is assured. We’re going to have safe cities, secure borders, sensible spending, basic stuff and we’re going to take DOGE to mars.”
CNN and other left-wing news organizations immediately leaped on Musk’s awkward moment to suggest that he performed a Nazi salute, attempting to make a scandal out of it during the first days of President Trump’s second term.
The Anti-Defamation League, a progressive antisemitism watchdog, released a statement defending Musk and calling for critics to give him the benefit of the doubt in this high-stakes political moment.
“It seems that @elonmusk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge,” the ADL said.
“In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let’s hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.”