- Elon Musk plans to visit Israel next week and tour the areas near the Gaza border, according to N12.
- He will meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, the outlet reported.
- Musk recently angered Israeli officials with a proposal to provide Starlink to Gaza.
Elon Musk is planning a visit to Israel next week, where he will tour towns near the border with Gaza, according to Israeli media.
News outlet N12 reported that Musk, the richest man in the world, plans to visit the Gaza envelope —the populated areas of Israel about 4.3 miles from the Gaza Strip border.
During Hamas’ surprise terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, large portions of the area were affected. Overall, about 1,400 people in Israel were killed and about 240 were taken hostage.
According to N12, Musk will witness the aftermath of the attacks in settlements and kibbutzim.
He is also scheduled to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, N12 said.
Sources in the president’s office were not able to confirm the visit at the time of reporting. Representatives for Netanyahu did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
The visit would follow Musk’s previous meeting with Netanyahu in California in September, during which the pair discussed antisemitism on X, Musk’s social media platform formerly known as Twitter, per AP News.
A recent post by Musk on X, in which he referred to an antisemitic post as “the actual truth,” drew widespread backlash earlier this month. The White House denounced it as an “abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate.”
On Tuesday, Musk said that X would be “donating all revenue from advertising & subscriptions associated with the war in Gaza to hospitals in Israel.”
The billionaire also said last month that Space X’s Starlink would bolster connectivity in Gaza by providing satellite network access to “internationally recognized aid organizations.”
Internet connectivity and phone service fully collapsed in Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the strip, which has killed more than 14,500 people, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
However, Musk’s Starlink proposal was widely condemned by Israeli government officials, with Israel’s communications minister Shlomo Karhi posting on X that “Hamas will use it for terrorist activities.”
Following the announcement, Musk spoke to Netanyhahu’s office and the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and made it clear to them that he’s “not in a hurry” to activate the satellite communication in Gaza, according to N12.
Musk said on X that he would “take extraordinary measures” to ensure that it was only implemented for humanitarian reasons, adding that Starlink would do everything under the supervision of the US and Israeli security establishments.
Musk, as well as X, Tesla, and SpaceX, did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
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