Tech leader Elon Musk was set to visit Israel on Monday and meet with Israeli politicians and victims of the October 7 Hamas atrocities.
The billionaire was expected to land in the morning and go on a tour of Gaza border communities alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There, Musk will meet with families who have members held hostage by Hamas. The meeting will take place in Kibbutz Kfar Aza at the home of Ofir Libstein, the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, who was killed on October 7.
Musk’s itinerary also includes a screening of the harrowing 44-minute montage of October 7 atrocities, a filmed conversation with Netanyahu, and meetings with war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and President Isaac Herzog.
Herzog’s office said that representatives of families of hostages held by Hamas will join the meeting and “will speak about the horrors of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and of the ongoing pain and uncertainty for those held captive.”
Herzog’s office added that the president will lobby Musk to take action against antisemitism on his social media platform, X, formerly called Twitter. Musk has come under fire in recent weeks for his platform’s failure to crack down on rampant disinformation and hate speech amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
He has also been accused by the White House of “abhorrent promotion” of antisemitism after endorsing a conspiracy theory seen as accusing Jews of trying to weaken white majorities.
Since he took over the company last year, Musk has been panned for what critics say is a proliferation of hate speech in general on the platform.
In September, Netanyahu urged Musk to combat antisemitism on X, calling on him to find “the ability to stop not only antisemitism, or rolling it back as best you can, but any collective hatred.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, said while his platform could not stop all hate speech before it was posted, he was “generally against attacking any group, no matter who it is.”
X Corp is currently suing the nonprofit Media Matters on grounds it has driven away advertisers by portraying the site as rife with antisemitic content.
Musk has also threatened to file suit against the Anti-Defamation League over its claims that problematic and racist speech has soared on the site since he purchased the company for $44 billion.