Israel and Anti-Defamation League rebuke Musk over alleged anti-Semitic tweet about billionaire Soros

Israel’s Foreign Ministry blasted Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday for not calling out anti-Semitism and for enabling anti-Semitism on the global social media platform.

The controversy began when Musk compared the controversial billionaire, George Soros, to Magneto, the main villain from the X-Men universe. The common denominator between the fictitious Magneto and real-world Soros is that both are Holocaust survivors who wield considerable influence.

Musk tweeted that Soros “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization.”

“Soros hates humanity,” added the Twitter CEO.

Following Musk’s tweet, “The Jews” became a trending topic on Twitter.

The Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem blasted Musk, arguing that his tweet “smelled of antisemitism...[and] immediately brought a flood of antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

Israeli Foreign Ministry Director of the Digital Diplomacy, David Saranga, criticized Musk and the Twitter platform for failing to confront the spread of anti-Semitism.

“Unfortunately, Twitter does nothing to address this problem,” stated Saranga.

Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt also criticized Musk for enabling Jew-hatred online.

“Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world’s problems,” said Greenblatt.

“Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feeds this segment – comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros ‘hates humanity’ – is not just distressing, it’s dangerous; it will embolden extremists who already contrive anti-Jewish conspiracies and have tried to attack Soros and Jewish communities as a result,” warned the ADL chief.

While Musk is officially a proponent for free speech online, critics have condemned him for failing to address hate-speech on the influential social media platform.

Anti-Semitism on Twitter has reportedly doubled since Musk purchased the platform last year, according to Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the CASM Technology company. 

While Hungarian-born Soros is Jewish and survived the Holocaust, over the years he has been accused of funding organizations that are often hostile towards the Jewish state.

For example, Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) has financed NGOs that have accused Israel of war crimes and alleged human rights violations.

Conspiracy theories about Soros have been around for about 30 years but have intensified in recent years.