Elon Musk, who’s been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit on Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders.
The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on October 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war.
Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel as rain fell, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to a video released by Netanyahu’s office.
The Tesla CEO and the Prime Minister visited the homes of some victims, including the family of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli-US citizenship who was held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed. She was released on Sunday in the latest round of exchanges during a ceasefire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.
“It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre,” Musk later said in an X Spaces conversation with Netanyahu. Musk said he was troubled by the video and photos that the Prime Minister showed him of the killings of civilians, including children.
They spoke broadly about the conflict, the protests it has generated, Hamas, the West Asia and more but did not touch on antisemitism online. Netanyahu said he hoped Musk would be involved in building a better future, to which the billionaire replied, “I’d love to help.”
Musk also was supposed to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defence minister.