Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stood in defense of billionaire Elon Musk in the controversy about the Nazi-like gesture he made at Donald Trump's inauguration, causing a wave of criticism toward the tech tycoon.
“Elon is a dear friend of Israel,” Netanyahu posted on X, the social media platform Musk owns, which has been accused of spreading anti-Semitism and other forms of racism since he took it over in 2022.
During his speech after Trump's inauguration as US president on Monday (20), Musk tapped his right hand on his chest with his fingers open, and extended his right arm diagonally upwards, with his fingers together and his palm facing downwards.
In protest, on Wednesday night (22) European activists projected an image showing Musk with his arm raised on the façade of a Tesla factory in Berlin, making a Hitler-like salute.
In addition to Musk's gesture, the word “Heil”, used as a classic Nazi cry to salute Hitler's image, was projected next to the Tesla logo, forming the phrase “Heil Tesla”. The protest was organized by the British organization Led By Donkeys and the German organization Zentrum für Politische Schönheit.
“Buy a Tesla, fascism,” wrote Led By Donkeys on X. The organizations, which have a history of opposing Musk, said their protest was aimed at “fighting the commercial arm of fascism." “The richest man in the world is promoting the far right in Europe. Don't buy a Tesla,” they declared.
Philipp Ruch, founder of the Zentrum für Politische Schönheit, told the news agency AFP that Musk gave a salute similar to the one “American neo-Nazis have practiced for years.”
Israeli newspaper Haaretz described Musk's gesture as “a Roman salute, a fascist salute most commonly associated with Nazi .”
Musk mocked the episode on X. “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired.”
Israel's defense
Accused of being the main name behind the genocide of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip and with a request for his arrest for war crimes issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Netanyahu mentioned Musk's visit to Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The trip happened after a parallel discussion in which Tesla chief executive was accused of anti-Semitism.
At the time, Musk endorsed a post accusing Jews of “hatred against whites," calling it “the real truth." He later apologized.
During the November 2023 trip, Musk and Netanyahu visited a kibbutz attacked by Hamas, and the billionaire also met Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who told him he had “a big role to play” in combating anti-Semitism.
*Source: AFP
