Electric car pioneer Elon Musk lands in Tel Aviv during wartime to smooth out relations with Israel and world Jewry. He creates a love poem by his AI engine Grok upon arrival.
The Israeli Government Press Office sent out a notice last night that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and founder of SpaceX, Starlink and the renewable energy and electric car company Tesla will be visiting Israel. He will meet with Israel’s President Herzog and the families of terror hostages still help by Hamas inside Gaza. The meeting will take place at 3:45PM in an event closed to the press. Materials will be distributed to the press following the meeting.
The visit comes after antisemitic remarks Musk made on the popular X (formerly Twitter) social media platform. In their meeting, the Israeli President will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.
The problem started when Musk endorsed a claim that Jewish communities push “hatred against Whites.”
An X post Wednesday afternoon said: “Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.” The post also mentioned “hordes of minorities” flooding Western countries, a popular antisemitic conspiracy theory.
In response, Musk said: “You have said the actual truth.”
His comments were a painful setback to Jewish communities worldwide facing growing antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists.
After landing in Israel he published a poem on X by Grok, his AI engine: “I asked Grok to write a poem about love.”
On a popular Facebook group in Israel, called Secret Tel Aviv Israelis had mixed responses about the Musk visit. One commenter Saul Wyner wrote, “In all honesty I hope we are polite but distant. I am not interested in fawning over someone who facilitated the greatest explosion in antisemitism in decades.”
Elliot Cohen wrote, “Cannot understand why he is welcomed here after his recent bouts of pure unadulterated antisemitism.”
Hannah Zion said: “I would stop all the whining. I am sure he is there to help Israel. Give him a chance before you all jump down his throat.”
For the environmentalists in the room, ElonJet tracked Musk’s arrival to Israel and said the journey created 62 tons of carbon emissions.
There was no mention of whether Musk would visit Gaza or the West Bank on this trip. The West Bank, which is overseen but hardly run by Mahmoud Abbas, the 88-year-old President of the Palestinian Authority, locals have recently lynched citizens accused of collaborating with Israel. Two days before the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, West Bank Palestinians kidnapped and beheaded a gay man who was living in Israel and on a list to immigrate within the next two months to Canada.
Elon Musk could revive Desertec plan
It will be interesting to see what emerges from the Musk visit. Hopefully it can spur a new business plan that can unite the Middle East with all its endeavours – from Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, to the United Arab Emirates’ more moderate stance on sustainable development. For example, Israel’s Rivulis with its achievements in smart agriculture will be showcased in Masdar City during COP28.
Elon Musk could unite an unstable region with a pan-Middle East electric car and electric truck freight network which connects off-grid solar panels to battery packs that can store and disseminate energy when needed. Think about Lebanon now with its rolling blackouts. Or Jordan, where people still have to truck in water for their daily needs. So much can be done. And from where Desertec failed, Musk could launch. The Middle East and North African countries should be collecting solar energy and shipping it to Europe where it’s needed. Transportation should all be electric.
Musk’s vision of aiming for real action in renewables and green transportation has happened. He is reaching for the stars and Mars where NASA cannot. Musk can draw the blueprint and we will follow.
