After the episode of Elon Musk’s alleged Nazi salute at President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony, a worldwide controversy has erupted about the true intentions of that gesture.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently came to Musk’s defense; “Elon Musk is being falsely smeared,” he wrote in a post on X.
He added, “Elon is a great friend of Israel. He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
During his trip to Israel, Musk visited a kibbutz, a communal settlement that had been targeted by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, as reported by Al Jazeera. During the visit, Musk pledged to prevent Internet access to Gaza through his satellite company, Starlink, unless approved by Israeli authorities, the newspaper reported. Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed that, since then, Musk has demonstrated unwavering support for the nation.
However, concerning the Nazi salute, Musk believes these accusations were made by “leftist radicals.”
Musk posted a series of photos depicting Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris and other public figures with an outstretched arm, similar to a Nazi salute, and added, “The radical leftists are really upset that they had to take time out of their busy day of praising Hamas to call me a Nazi.”
Lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Murphy, argued that Musk’s actions sent a message to neo-Nazis, implying an alignment with them. This sentiment was heightened by Musk’s recent support for the far-right German political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Murphy stated on the subject, “He supported the far-right neo-Nazi party in Germany. But you don’t have to believe me.”
He added, “Just look at what happened that night on far-right Telegram channels. Neo-Nazi groups and white supremacist groups here in the United States said, ‘This is our man. This is our signal. Donald Trump is with us. He is with our white supremacist agenda.’”
