On Monday, Israel hosted Elon Musk, having reached an agreement in principle allowing the tech entrepreneur's SpaceX company's Starlink communications to be used in the Gaza Strip. Musk's office has not commented on the trip. Israeli President Isaac Herzog has set an afternoon meeting with Musk, attending with relatives of captives of Hamas in Gaza. The discussion will comprise of "combating rising antisemitism online". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to meet Musk to talk about the security aspects of artificial intelligence and will hold a live online talk. During their prior meeting on 18th Sept, in California, the Prime Minister asked Musk to strike a balance between free expression and tackling hate speech after a period of controversy over antisemitism on X - the former Twitter. Last month, during the battle against Hamas, Musk proposed that Starlink should back connection links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with "internationally recognised aid organisations". Shlomo Karhi, Israeli Communications Minister, initially objected to this, saying "Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist activities". Nonetheless, Karhi announced on Monday that they have come to an agreement in principle for Starlink satellite units to only be operated with the agreement of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip. He went on to say in a X post to Musk that he wished the visit to Israel "will serve as a springboard for future endeavors, as well as enhance your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire world." Musk has contended that he is against antisemitism and anything that "promotes hate and conflict" - including on X. The Gaza war has caused a worldwide surge in antisemitism and Islamophobia - Hamas and Israel are now in a temporary cease-fire, with some of the Palestinian and Gaza captives being released. On 15th Nov, Musk agreed with a post on X that falsely maintained Jewish people were stirring up hate against white individuals, stating that the user who mentioned the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth". After this, the White House denounced what it named as "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that "runs against our core values as Americans". Numerous large U.S. companies such as Walt Disney, Warner Bros, Discovery and NBCUniversal parent Comcast stopped their advertising on X. The "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory professes that Jewish people and leftists are plotting the cultural and ethnic replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants, leading to a "white genocide". The Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organisation that battles antisemitism, announced that in the U.S. following the Gaza war, antisemitic incidents increased by almost 400% in comparison with the corresponding period a year ago. Musk claimed his platform should give people an opportunity to post various opinions, but his company will limit the dissemination of posts that may flout its regulations, referring to it as "freedom of speech, not reach".
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