Tech visionary Elon Musk just sent shockwaves through the media world by purchasing Twitter. This has sparked a lot of discussion and debate over Musk’s views and positions both politically and socially. Naturally, we’d like to know his thoughts regarding Israel.
Many of you will remember that Musk made a surprise visit to the Jewish state back in 2018.
While here, Musk met with then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials, presumably ahead of a local launch for his Tesla car brand. Teslas can today be found on the streets in most Israeli cities.
Netanyahu later related that Musk had called Israel a “technological power” and shared his ideas on how the Startup Nation could boost its clean energy profile by better utilizing the Negev desert.
Last year, Musk gave a major boost for Israeli robotics startup BionicHIVE when he retweeted a video clip from the company ahead of its series A funding round with the caption: “The robot future is coming.”
The robot future is coming
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 12, 2021
The Tesla and SpaceX founder also explained that he had come, with his kids, to explore Israel’s culture and history.
On Instagram, Musk posted several photos and videos of himself visiting sites throughout Israel, including the popular nightlife scene at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda open market. A selfie that he posted from atop the ancient desert fortress of Masada was accompanied by the caption, “Paid respects to Masada earlier today. Live free or die.”
Musk was referring to the last stand of Jewish rebels against the Roman legions atop Masada, a battle that ended with the Jews taking their own lives to avoid being captured and enslaved, and which is today a strong symbol of the Zionist spirit. Some units of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are sworn-in atop Masada for this very reason.
So is that enough to make Elon Musk a Zionist? In the eyes of Israel’s detractors he’s certainly done enough to earn such a title.
