Elon Musk's 'Nazi salute' row: Israeli PM defends Tesla CEO, says he is being falsely smeared

Calling Elon Musk a great friend of Israel, Netanyahu, in a post on X, said that the Tesla CEO is being “falsely smeared”.

Updated on: Jan 23, 2025, 22:52:35 IST

By HT News Desk

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Amid a raging controversy over Elon Musk's infamous raised-arm salute, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the Tesla and SpaceX CEO on Thursday.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during the inaugural parade inside Capitol One Arena, in Washington, DC, on January 20, 2025. (AFP)

Calling Elon Musk a great friend of Israel, Netanyahu, in a post on X, said that the Tesla CEO is being “falsely smeared”.

“Elon Musk is being falsely smeared,” the Israeli prime minister said. “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,” he added.

Elon Musk's ‘Nazi salute’ row

The gesture was made by Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk on January 20, the day of US President Donald Trump's inauguration.

Many social media users likened the gesture to the "sieg heil" used by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Also Read | ‘Nazi salute’ row: ‘Heil Tesla’ projected onto Gigafactory in Germany

Musk, while not explicitly denying those claims, lashed out at people making the interpretation. "The everyone is Hitler attack is sooo tired," Musk posted on X several hours after he left the stage.

Musk has also made several statements in recent weeks in support of Germany's far-right AfD party and British anti-immigration party Reform UK.

Also Read | Elon Musk responds to 'Nazi salute' row, says opponents need 'better dirty tricks'

But the Anti-Defamation League, an organization founded to combat anti-Semitism which has criticized Musk in the past, defended his actions this time around.

"It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute," the organisation said in a statement posted on social media website X.

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HT News Desk
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