Elon Musk has asserted that criticism of Israel constitutes blatant anti-Semitism.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has alleged that the US Democratic Party has become “openly anti-Semitic,” following Democratic lawmaker Rashida Tlaib’s labeling of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal” during his address to Congress.
Delivering a speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening, Netanyahu vowed – met with thunderous applause from Republicans and a more subdued response from Democrats – to achieve a “total victory in Gaza” and “fight until we destroy Hamas’ military capabilities.”
Approximately half of the Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate skipped the speech. Among those present was Michigan Representative Rashida Tlaib, who displayed a small sign reading “Guilty of Genocide” and “War criminal” as the Israeli prime minister spoke.
Tlaib’s protest drew condemnation from Republicans and pro-Israel Democrats. On X, tech billionaire Mark Pincus questioned, “How is this part of the Dem party? Are Dem leaders denouncing?”
“People who have been lifelong Democrats refuse to accept the clear reality that the Democratic Party is rapidly becom[ing] openly anti-Semitic,” Musk responded, claiming that “This trend is accelerating, not slowing down.”
Support for Israel has traditionally been a matter of bipartisan consensus in the US. In April, a bill providing $26.3 billion in aid to the Jewish state passed the House with a vote of 366 to 58, subsequently being forwarded to the Senate and combined with bills granting tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine and Taiwan, which also secured bipartisan approval.
However, Israel’s war against Hamas has widened the divide between the Democratic Party’s establishment and progressive factions, with the latter urging President Joe Biden to compel Netanyahu to declare an immediate ceasefire. In an apparent gesture toward the progressives, Biden suspended the delivery of approximately 1,800 2,000-pound bombs to Israel earlier this summer. Nevertheless, his administration has provided Israel with over 14,000 of the same bombs, alongside drone-launched missiles and $6.5 billion in additional military aid, since October 7, Reuters reported last week.
Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of over 1,100 people and the taking of around 250 hostages to Gaza. Israel immediately declared war on the Palestinian militant group, and has since killed nearly 40,000 individuals in the enclave, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Musk himself was accused of anti-Semitism in January, when he asserted that Jewish organizations like the Anti-Defamation League promote “dialectical hatred against whites.” The tech mogul subsequently apologized for the statement, before embarking on a trip to Israel to meet Netanyahu, followed by a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland.
During a press conference after meeting Netanyahu, Musk declared that Israel had “no choice” but to destroy Hamas, referring to the Palestinian militant group as a “poisonous regime.” In a similar briefing at Auschwitz, he proclaimed that he had been “frankly naive” about the alleged rise of anti-Semitism in the West.