Israel
Musk joins Netanyahu for tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza
Netanyahu joined the tech billionaire on the visit to one of the worst-hit communities during the Hamas assault of southern Israel.
November 27, 2023 12:36
Netanyahu joined the tech billionaire on the visit to one of the worst-hit communities during the Hamas assault of southern Israel.
November 27, 2023 12:36(JNS) Elon Musk witnessed the results of the devastation of the October 7 massacre on a tour of Kibbutz Kfar Aza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The tech billionaire was briefed by the head of the Shaar HaNegev Council Yossi Keren and IDF Spokesperson's Unit representative Liad Diamond.
Keren took the position after his predecessor Ofir Libstein was killed on Oct. 7 during a gunfight with Hamas terrorists. Musk and Netanyahu visited Libstein's home, where they were told of his heroic acts on that day.
Kfar Aza, located less than two miles from the Gaza border and home to around 900 residents before the massacre, saw hordes of heavily armed Hamas terrorists invade their community that morning, murdering an estimated 62 people with at least 19 kidnapped or missing.
A total of 1,200 people were murdered and more than 5,000 wounded across southern Israel on Oct. 7, with some 240 taken hostage to Gaza.
Musk also toured the home of the Itamari family where Abigail Idan, a 4-year-old American-Israeli, was abducted by Hamas terrorists after they murdered her parents in front of her. Idan crawled under her father's bloodied body to hide. She was released on Sunday along with 13 other Israelis held in Gaza.
Finally, Musk and Netanyahu moved to the youth neighborhood of the kibbutz, which took the brunt of the fire on Oct. 7.
Musk was scheduled to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog along with families of those still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. According to the president's office, they will also discuss the need "to act to combat rising antisemitism online."
Netanyahu later on Monday will hold a live online discussion with Musk about the security aspects of artificial intelligence and other topics, the prime minister's office said.
Musk and Netanyahu met in September in California, where they held a private meeting, held an online discussion and toured the Tesla electric vehicle factory in Fremont.
Israel's Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced on Monday that Musk agreed to only use his Starlink satellite units in Israel and the Gaza Strip with the approval of the Communications Ministry.