Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, visited Israel and received a symbolic gift from Malki Shem-Tov, the father of Omer Shem-Tov, an Israeli held captive by Hamas in Gaza. Shem-Tov gifted Musk a metal dog tag with the inscription “Our hearts are hostage in Gaza,” during a meeting captured in a video released by Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s office.
Musk, known for his technological innovations and social media presence, placed the tag around his neck and pledged on X to wear it daily until all hostages are freed. This visit follows controversy surrounding a post Musk agreed with on X, which suggested that Jews were fueling animosity against white people. The post referenced the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory.
In response to the post, major US companies like Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and Comcast’s NBCUniversal paused their advertising on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. The White House condemned Musk’s actions as promoting “antisemitic and racist hate,” inconsistent with American values.
Musk has since clarified his stance against antisemitism and any form of hate speech, asserting that X would not endorse such rhetoric. The dog tags Musk received symbolize the impact of the October 7 cross-border attack and atrocities by Hamas, which resulted in the killing of around 1,200 people and the abduction of 240 people, who were taken back to Gaza as hostages.