Billionaire entrepreneur, Elon Musk met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, November 27 in Israel, where the pair toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, one of the Jewish communities attacked by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 cross-border assault.
After touring the scene of the violence, Musk was shown a video documenting some of the atrocities that took place, according to a conversation between the two men broadcast afterwards on X.
Musk said it was shocking to visit the site and troubling to see the joy on the faces of Hamas militants as they killed innocent people.
“It’s one thing obviously if civilians die accidentally, but it’s another thing to revel in the joy of killing civilians. … That’s evil,” Musk said.
Musk also rebuffed arguments that Israel has disproportionately killed civilians in Gaza, saying the actions of Hamas militants were intentional.
“There is an important difference here, which is Israel tries to avoid killing civilians,” Musk said.
The trip comes as Musk faces widespread criticism for his decision to loosen content moderation on X.
Since the October 7 Hamas attack, antisemitic content has surged more than 900 percent on the platform.
Musk has also been condemned by the White House for indicating support for an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, a move U.S. officials called an “abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate.” A number of major advertisers have left the platform after their ads appeared next to pro-Nazi posts.
Musk did not address those allegations in his conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, but he said there is a need to “stop the propaganda that is convincing people to engage in murder.” The militants must be “neutralized,” he added.
Also on Monday, Musk reached a “principle understanding” with Israel to operate SpaceX’s Starlink satellites in Gaza, according to Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, but only with Israeli approval.
