- Elon Musk has pledged to wear a symbol of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
- Musk was given a dog tag by the father of a hostage during a meeting with Israel’s president.
- The billionaire visited Israel days after being criticized for endorsing an antisemitic post on X.
Elon Musk has pledged to wear a symbol of the hostages held in Gaza he was given during a visit to the country.
The billionaire flew to Israel earlier this week, days after the social media backlash over his endorsement of an antisemitic post on his platform, X.
During the visit, Musk toured scenes of Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attacks and met with some of the families of the hostages during a temporary ceasefire between the two sides.
The Tesla CEO was also given an inscribed dog tag by Malki Shem-Tov, the father of hostage Omer Shem-Tov, during a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Dog tags are common in Israel and have become a symbol of the October 7 attacks, per Reuters. The tag was inscribed with the words: “Our hearts are hostage in Gaza.”
In a reply to a video of the meeting shared by the Israeli president’s office on X, the billionaire said: “I will wear it every day until your loved ones are released.”
Musk has been dealing with a storm of backlash over the last few weeks after he was called out for his response to an antisemitic post.
In a post on X, Musk told a user who criticized “Western Jewish populations” they had “said the actual truth.” He was quickly and widely condemned for the post, with a White House spokesperson describing it as an “abhorrent promotion of Antisemitic and racist hate.”
Major companies including IBM have also pulled ads from X after a report from nonprofit Media Matters found that ads were running alongside pro-Nazi content. Apple, Disney, and NBC have all since followed suit.
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, made outside normal working hours.
