Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday criticized a tweet by Twitter CEO Elon Musk accusing Jewish billionaire George Soros of conspiring against humanity.
Foreign Ministry Director of Digital Diplomacy David Saranga stopped short of accusing Musk of antisemitism, but said that his remark had “an antisemitic flavor.”
In a follow-up tweet to an original post comparing the 92-year-old American Holocaust survivor to the Marvel Comics villain Magneto, Musk accused Soros of conspiring against civilization itself.
You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2023
The phrase “The Jews” became one of the top trending topics on Twitter following Musk’s tweet.
“Musk’s tweet immediately led to a flood of antisemitic conspiracy theories on Twitter,” said Saranga. “Unfortunately Twitter does nothing to address this problem.”
“The Jews” is trending right now on #Twitter and it’s filled with AntiSemitic conspiracies and hate speech targeting Jews around the world.
Unfortunately Twitter does nothing to address this problem.
It reminds me of Niemöller's words which are prominently featured on a wall of… pic.twitter.com/igT3RsrViq
— David Saranga (@DavidSaranga) May 16, 2023
Soros is a major donor to left-wing and progressive causes. He founded Open Society Foundations in 1993, an NGO that has been accused by NGO Monitor of participating in anti-Israel activities. Soros has donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundations.
Musk also went after the Anti-Defamation League in another tweet on Tuesday after its CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted a critical response to Musk’s earlier Soros post. Musk wrote that the “ADL should just drop the ‘A.’ ”
Was Netanyahu being anti-Semitic when he blamed Soros for the anti-deportation campaign in Israel? https://t.co/WiLNyXMDTj
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) May 16, 2023
Greenblatt had written that “Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world’s problems. To see Elon Musk, regardless of his intent, feed 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.”
Soros often is held up by the far-right, using antisemitic tropes, as the source of the world’s problems. To see @ElonMusk, regardless of his intent, feed this segment — comparing him to a Jewish supervillain, claiming Soros “hates humanity" — is not just distressing, it's… pic.twitter.com/ECAuYahSga
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) May 16, 2023
In November, shortly after acquiring the social media company for $44 billion, Musk posted a picture of a World War II Wehrmacht soldier carrying three carrier pigeons in a cage during the Nazi invasion of France.
Musk visited Israel in 2018, posting a video to Instagram and Twitter of himself lighting cocktails on fire in a Jerusalem bar.
“Learning how to pour flaming absinthe over a tower of glasses in Gatsby, a Jerusalem speakeasy. Everything’s better with fire,” Musk wrote on Instagram.
He also posted a selfie from the ancient Judean desert fortress of Masada with the caption: “Paid respects to Masada earlier today. Live free or die.”