Left-wing commentators railed against Israel for hosting Elon Musk this week, arguing the Jewish state should have shunned the billionaire entrepreneur over anti-Semitic tweets. But many of the same people have demanded Israel make peace with Hamas despite the terrorist group's massacre of Jews on Oct. 7.
It's the latest example of the media's selective moral outrage about Israel's war with Hamas.
Musk on Monday toured one of the Israeli communities that was hardest hit on Oct. 7, watched footage of Hamas's atrocities, and met with victims. Israeli president Isaac Herzog at one point chastised Musk for the anti-Semitic content on X, formerly Twitter. During the visit, Musk expressed support for Israel, called for the destruction of Hamas, and agreed that his satellite internet company, Starlink, would only operate in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip with Israeli approval.
According to Israel's left-wing critics in the media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government put the Jewish people at risk by diplomatically engaging with Musk, who two weeks earlier endorsed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on X. At the same time, however, the critics have demanded Israel embrace a negotiated settlement with Hamas, a virulently anti-Semitic organization that recently vowed to keep up its genocidal violence for as long as it takes to destroy the country.
Esther Solomon, editor-in-chief of Haaretz English, on Musk:
Blatant antisemite & publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel. Instead, Netanyahu - plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy - gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of themhttps://t.co/zGc10w8Y9H pic.twitter.com/XMkitJclUt
— Esther Solomon (@EstherSolomon) November 27, 2023
Solomon on Hamas:
Israel needs a hostage deal – the Netanyahu government must not try to save battered national honor over the helpless babies, children, teenagers, elderly people and parents being held captive | Haaretz Editorialhttps://t.co/ZxN088yX1L
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 11, 2023
Ben Samuels, U.S. correspondent at Haaretz English, on Musk:
Israel's repulsive embrace of Elon Musk is a cynical betrayal of Jews, dead and alive
Netanyahu parading him around sites of October 7 massacre, demeaned & denied on Musk's watch, should be a stain on Bibi's legacy alongside other failures of recent weekshttps://t.co/Pnfv8ApFOA
— Ben Samuels (@Bsamuels0) November 27, 2023
Samuels on Hamas:
Too little, too slow: Experts warn that Israel-Hamas pause is "a joke" and a "humanitarian band-aid" for Gaza.
There's also deep concern about Israel's refusal to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing & lack of enforcement mechanisms and independent observershttps://t.co/SA9J6i3KbJ
— Ben Samuels (@Bsamuels0) November 23, 2023
Mairav Zonszein, senior "Israel-Palestine" analyst at Crisis Group, on Musk:
The prime minister of Israel, who invokes the Holocaust and Nazis at every turn, hosts one of the most powerful antisemites in the world. https://t.co/r9vIeQmH2e
— Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) November 27, 2023
Zonszein on Hamas:
Hamas has reportedly offered to release all civilian hostages in exchange for a ceasefire (5 days) and Netanyahu is saying no ceasefire without the return of hostages.
So what exactly is the problem? The terms and duration of the cease fire?— Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) November 5, 2023
Michelle Goldberg, New York Times columnist, on Musk:
"It’s hard to figure out who is behaving more cynically, Musk or the Jewish leaders who are koshering him."https://t.co/nvh7mIBvEQ
— Yousef Munayyer (@YousefMunayyer) November 21, 2023
Goldberg on Hamas:
One can condemn Hamas and its rockets and still recognize that this current conflagration began with Israeli overreach born of a sense of impunity, writes @michelleinbklyn https://t.co/YZrHUlw9RU
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) May 18, 2021
Mehdi Hasan, MSNBC host, on Musk:
Netanyahu, who has been criticized in Israel for avoiding their media and interviews, does however have time to take a break from his war effort to host, and do photo-ops with, a foreign billionaire who recently accused Jews of fueling anti-white hatred. https://t.co/ywvEOzZRqS
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 27, 2023
Hasan on Hamas:
Israel and Hamas are believed to be close to a hostage deal in return for a temporary cease-fire, but nothing has been finalized yet. A pause would be crucial to saving innocent civilians in Gaza, where the death toll is already more than 13,000. pic.twitter.com/SO3jojju94
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) November 20, 2023
Wajahat Ali, columnist at the Daily Beast, on Musk:
Self-destructive and reckless.
Why on Earth Are Jewish Leaders Praising Elon Musk? https://t.co/dsI66LGoq8
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) November 26, 2023
Ali on Hamas:
But Hamas... https://t.co/EsrV5mQYpL
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) November 25, 2023
Ayman Mohyeldin, MSNBC host, on Musk:
Why on Earth Are Jewish Leaders Praising Elon Musk? https://t.co/JgGtv4bceP an important read by @michelleinbklyn
— Ayman (@AymanM) November 21, 2023
Mohyeldin on Hamas:
Netanyahu could have made diplomatic hostage deal before massive casualties: @AymanM
Joy and her panel discuss what led to the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, and what is unfolding in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis worsens.
Watch here: https://t.co/eyQADJ7SYx
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) November 23, 2023
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of Jewish Council for Public Affairs, on Musk:
This is now the second time Bibi has given cover to this raging antisemite — just after Musk’s explicit embrace of conspiracy theories directly responsible for the mass murder of Jews and others.
Make no mistake: normalizing Musk directly undermines Jewish safety. https://t.co/NH3J4NVEOH
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) November 27, 2023
Spitalnick on Hamas:
This is drawing some Twitter gripes but it’s nothing new: POTUS said the same thing last week. https://t.co/7DCJLJqKb3
His point is that we must not give up on peace and a two-state future — because giving up is precisely what Hamas and its fellow extremists want. https://t.co/GejggQp55O
— Amy Spitalnick (@amyspitalnick) November 28, 2023
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, on Musk:
Netanyahu already embraced Hungary's Viktor Orban despite his antisemitism because he supported Israel. Now something similar is happening as far-right Jewish leaders embrace Elon Musk for taking an anti-Palestine position despite his antisemitic comments. https://t.co/otRPzpsclr
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) November 21, 2023
Roth on Hamas:
The US government prefers a "humanitarian pause" to a more permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Even that would make a big difference if large amounts of humanitarian aid were allowed in. Why can't Biden press Netanyahu hard enough to make that happen? https://t.co/hqe48kXD5i
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) October 31, 2023
Yonah Lieberman, co-founder of IfNotNow, on Musk:
https://twitter.com/YonahLieberman/status/1729217370055717052
Lieberman on Hamas:
The breakthrough deal we got today was offered — and rejected by Netanyahu — in the early days of the war. Thousands of Palestinian lives could have been saved in these last few weeks. https://t.co/2ywIEy3Ayb https://t.co/NegFzdbhlf pic.twitter.com/chFI1i5lQ4
— Yonah Lieberman 🔥 (@YonahLieberman) November 22, 2023
Some of the critics of have a record of tolerance for anti-Semites not named Musk.
If you’re a House Dem busy condemning your colleague Rashida Tlaib but have said nothing about House Republicans proposing a ban on Palestinians, or turning Gaza into a 'parking lot", or comparing Palestinian kids to Nazis, maybe you should ask yourself why.
Watch me & @AymanM: https://t.co/V5Hb1LcC4z
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 6, 2023
https://twitter.com/YonahLieberman/status/1592295397988651009
I really feel like Marjorie Taylor Greene's extreme anti-Semitism gets lost in the discussion of her broader seditious nuttiness. If Ilhan Omar ever said anything like this -- which she wouldn't -- every Democrat would have to answer for it. https://t.co/xxcpDw6HDO
— Michelle Goldberg (@michelleinbklyn) January 28, 2021
This is accurate. Omar got dragged a week after Tammy Duckworth was attacked by Fox and Tucker. They all defended Duckworth, rightfully so. Meanwhile, Omar is attacked weekly mainly for being Muslim, black and an immigrant and...crickets. What does that say to the rest of us? https://t.co/xSXcSQYrrG
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) November 8, 2020
WO==> Israel’s Interior Minister tweets @ POTUS & Rep. Tlaib... saying she hates Israel more than she loves her grandmother... once again demonstrating the dehumanizing choice Palestinians living under occupation have to regularly make: chose between family or their basic rights https://t.co/eKRpCwsy4s
— Ayman (@AymanM) August 16, 2019