Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Elon Musk is “being falsely smeared” after the tech billionaire was accused of giving two fascist salutes at Donald Trump’s “presidential parade” on Monday.
Newsweek contacted the Israeli prime minister’s office and Musk, via the Tesla and SpaceX press offices, for comment on Friday outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the owner of X, formerly Twitter, has emerged as one of Trump’s most powerful political allies, spending more than $260 million to support his presidential election campaign, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Trump then chose Musk to head up the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
After the atrocities committed during the World War II, fascism remains taboo in Western societies, so anything linking Musk to the ideology could severely tarnish his reputation, as well as risking a diplomatic spat with America’s European allies.
Over the past few months, Musk has endorsed a number of right-wing European political figures and movements. These have included British anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson, currently in prison for contempt of court, and Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel, who he hosted on an X livestream.
MAYA ALLERUZZO/POOL/AFP/SAUL LOEB/GETTY
What to Know
Musk made the gesture at Washington’s Capitol One Arena, telling the audience “my heart goes out to you” before raising his arm straight from his chest with the palm facing downwards in what some critics claimed was a fascist salute, though the business tycoon has strongly denied the claim. Musk then turned around and repeated the gesture facing a different section of the crowd.
On Thursday, Netanyahu shared an X post from Musk, who wrote: “The radical leftists are really upset that they had to take time out of their busy day praising Hamas to call me a Nazi.”
The prime minister added: “Elon Musk is being falsely smeared. 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.
“He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state. I thank him for this.”
.@elonmusk is being falsely smeared.
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. He has since repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s… https://t.co/VkBptanDmp
— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 23, 2025
Musk then shared Netanyahu’s post adding: “thank you.”
The tech billionaire on Friday shared a post from another X user showing French President Emmanuel Macron raising his right arm with his palm outstretched during a speech, asking whether the French leader will “resign after giving a Nazi salute or is this just the way people engage large crowds when they are excited?”
He added: “It was astonishing how insanely hard legacy media tried to cancel me for saying ‘my heart goes out to you’ and moving my hand from my heart to the audience. In the end, this deception will just be another nail in the coffin of legacy media.”
In November 2023, Netanyahu gave Musk a tour of the Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel, one of a number that was overrun by Hamas gunman on October 7, 2023, in an attack that killed around 1,200 Israelis and saw another 240 dragged into Gaza as hostages. This sparked a major Israeli invasion of Gaza that has resulted in at least 47,000 deaths, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
What People Are Saying
The Anti-Defamation League, which campaigns against antisemitism, posted on X: “It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute, but again, we appreciate that people are on edge.”
Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler of New York posted on X: “I never imagined we would see the day when what appears to be a Heil Hitler salute would be made behind the Presidential seal. This abhorrent gesture has no place in our society and belongs in the darkest chapters of human history.”
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York posted on Instagram: “If you’re cool and want to defend the ‘Sieg Heils’ and the Nazi salutes…whatever you want to do, that’s on you. I’m on the opposite side of that. I’m not with the Nazis.”
Jewish conservative commentator Ben Shapiro described the incident as “another episode of everybody I don’t like is Hitler.”
What Happens Next
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order formally establishing the DOGE under Musk’s leadership.
Musk wants DOGE to radically reduce government spending, though the department doesn’t have the powers to do this unilaterally and cuts in areas such as Social Security and defense could spark considerable conflict within the Republican coalition.
Update 1/24/25 11:21 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
