Netanyahu says Elon Musk is not a Nazi and blasts ‘false smears’ against ‘great friend of Israel’ after ‘salute’ storm
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ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come out in defence of tech tycoon Elon Musk after he made a gesture that looked like a Nazi salute. The embattled PM posted on X to slam "false smears" made against Musk, dubbing him a "great friend of Israel".
![[Elon Musk giving a speech at an inauguration, making a hand gesture.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-musks-hand-gestures-inauguration-965611587.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Musk was making a speech to Trump supporters this week when he gave a stiff-armed Roman-style salute. People were quick to slam him online for making a "Nazi salute", including US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who said he made a "Heil Hitler salute".
![[Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahu-965798601.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Rep Jerry Nadler, another Democrat, called it an “abhorrent gesture.”. But Musk rapidly shut down the claims - accusing his enemies of engaging in "dirty tricks" to try and smear him after the shocking moment. He defended himself by writing: "The 'everyone is Hitler' attack is sooo tired.".
![[Screenshot of tweets by Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk discussing the latter's support for Israel.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/image_861dc4.png?strip=all&w=592)
Sharing a screenshot of a Wikipedia page that said he made a gesture which was "compared to a Nazi salute", Musk wrote on his platform X: "Defund Wikipedia until balance is restored!". He added, "Since legacy media propaganda is considered a 'valid' source by Wikipedia, it naturally simply becomes an extension of legacy media propaganda!".
![[Screenshot of a Twitter thread discussing Elon Musk's arm gesture at the second Trump inauguration.]](https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2025/01/sc-Screenshot-Capture-2025-01-21-14-12-35.jpg?strip=all&w=597)
Today Netanyahu wrote on the social media site: "@elonmusk is being falsely smeared. "Elon is a great friend of Israel. He visited Israel after the October 7 massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
![[A person in a suit waves from behind a presidential podium.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-washington-dc-donald-trump-965486936.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
