Jerusalem:
Israel’s president informed Elon Musk on Monday that the tech mogul has ”an enormous function to play” to fight anti-Semitism, which his social media platform is accused of spreading.
The assembly got here after the world’s richest particular person visited a kibbutz neighborhood devastated in assaults by Hamas militants on October 7, and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence officers.
Musk has been criticised over what critics say is a proliferation of hate speech on X, previously Twitter, since his takeover of the social media web site in October 2022.
He has been accused by the White Home of ”abhorrent promotion” of anti-Semitism after endorsing a conspiracy principle seen as accusing Jews of making an attempt to weaken white majorities.
Israel’s figurehead President Isaac Herzog informed him: ”Sadly, we’re inundated by anti-Semitism, which is Jew hatred.
”You may have an enormous function to play,” he stated. ”And I feel we have to battle it collectively as a result of on the platforms which you lead, sadly, there is a harbouring of a number of… anti-Semitism.”
Musk didn’t point out anti-Semitism in his video remarks launched by Herzog’s workplace, however stated Hamas militants ”have been fed propaganda since they have been youngsters”.
”It is exceptional what people are able to in the event that they’re fed falsehoods, from when they’re youngsters; they’ll assume that the homicide of harmless folks is an efficient factor.”
On October 7 Hamas militants broke by Gaza’s militarised border into southern Israel to kill round 1,200 folks and seize about 240 hostages, based on Israeli officers, within the worst-ever assault for the reason that nation’s founding.
Vowing to destroy Hamas in response, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment of targets in Gaza, alongside a floor invasion, that the Hamas authorities says has killed virtually 15,000.
A brief truce has been in impact since Friday.
– Discuss of satellites –
Earlier Monday, Netanyahu and Musk mentioned ”safety features of synthetic intelligence” with senior defence officers, the Prime Minister’s Workplace stated.
Musk and Netanyahu held a dialog on X following their tour of Kfar Aza, one of many communities attacked by Hamas.
”We have now to demilitarise Gaza after the destruction of Hamas,” Netanyahu stated, calling for a marketing campaign to ”deradicalise” the Palestinian territory.
”Then we additionally must rebuild Gaza, and I hope to have our Arab associates assist in that context.”
Netanyahu informed Musk he hoped to renew United States-mediated normalisation talks with Saudi Arabia after Hamas’s defeat and ”broaden the circle of peace past something conceivable”.
The warfare stalled progress in the direction of a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal, and in early November Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler denounced the conduct of Israeli forces combating Hamas in Gaza.
Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi stated his nation had reached an understanding in precept on the usage of Starlink satellites, operated by Musk’s firm SpaceX, in Israel and the Gaza Strip ”with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications”.
Starlink is a community of satellites in low Earth orbit that may present web to distant places, or areas which have had regular communications infrastructure disabled.
In September, Netanyahu urged Musk ”to cease not solely anti-Semitism, or rolling it again as finest you’ll be able to, however any collective hatred” on X.
Musk stated on the time that whereas his platform couldn’t cease all hate speech earlier than it was posted, he was ”typically towards attacking any group, irrespective of who it’s”.
X Corp is presently suing nonprofit Media Issues on the grounds that it has pushed away advertisers by portraying the positioning as rife with anti-Semitic content material.
Musk has additionally threatened to file go well with towards the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, over its claims that problematic and racist speech has soared on the positioning since he accomplished his $44-billion takeover.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)