Anti-Semitism is raging around the world. What is the rationale behind the Israeli Prime Minister’s decision to make his first stop in the United States in San Francisco, on his way to address the United Nations in New York as well as his meeting with President Joe Biden? Yesterday, in California, Netanyahu met with Elon Musk, the President of Tesla, the owner of “X” (formerly Twitter), and leading innovator in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Bibi and Sara Netanyahu spent the majority of their time in private and public conversations with one of the richest people in world. During his twelve hour stop-over in San Francisco, he did not have time in his schedule to meet with the leaders of the Jewish community in the Bay area.
It appears that Netanyahu had little if any compunctions about meeting with Musk, whose social media platform has been totally conflicted and inconsistent in its approach as to whether to permit various forms of “hate speech”. Musk’s on-going vacillation over whether to restrict or tolerate anti-Semitic interaction on his platform has undergone very serious attacks by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Netanyahu did indicate, however, that he did discuss his concern about “general” hate speech being displayed on the “X” network. It was not clear whether Netanyahu was trying to re-enforce his personal image as a supporter of the Israeli high-tech field or was he seeking to stabilize the increasing anxiety within that industry concerning the impact it might suffer with his judicial reform package. It was also seen as a way to counter the view in Israel that Bibi needed to find an equally important figure with whom to meet, as President Biden was not prepared to receive him in the White House because of Biden’s opposition to the Netanyahu’s Government’s approach to judicial reform.
Meanwhile, there have been a rash of anti-Semitic incidents and threats coinciding with the Jewish holiday season—although not all directed or linked to the holidays.
-- In his Rosh Hashanah call to American Rabbis and leaders, President Biden addressed the continuing security threats that many communities and synagogues face during the High Holidays. ADL had reported previously that since mid-July, 49 synagogues in thirteen different states had received threatening calls necessitating the cancellation of many services.
--Anti-Israel events are increasing on college campuses throughout the country. A major pro-Palestinian festival featuring anti-Semities, among other participants, is being held at the University of Pennsylvania on the weekend prior to Yom Kippur.
--Early in September, the head of the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas, in a televised speech to the members his party, Fatah, issued a broadside attack denying the Holocaust. He laced his speech with classic anti-Semitic tropes. While many Palestinian academics and leaders repudiated the anti-Semitism, Abbas was reiterating many of the beliefs he has espoused since the 1980’s.
--UNESCO identified the prehistoric site of Jericho as part of Palestine –not Israel or even occupied territory—in its declaration yesterday designating the ancient city as a World Heritage Site.
--Alexander Zverev, a highly ranked German tennis player, demanded that a judge in his match at the U.S. Open expel a member of the crowd who was mocking him by shouting out the verses from the Nazi era German National Anthem.
--There was an outcry from Jewish groups as Spain’s Academy of Spanish Language continued use of anti-Semitic phrasing in its definition of “Jew” in its dictionary.
--Tunisian President Kais Saied has declared that the recent Mediterranean storm, Daniel, which killed at least 3000 people in Libya, was influenced by the “Zionists”, because it was named after a Jewish prophet.
--There continues to be increased concern in Germany, with the rapid growth of the neo-fascist, right wing, AfD political party. Polls now indicate that support for AfD has now reached 18% versus the 10.3% that it attained in the 2021 elections.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting with Musk, must be seen as coming at a moment where the Israeli leader—in similar moments in the past—would have become the self-appointed spokesperson against growing world-wide anti-Semitism. It would not have been an event in which he would have failed to explicitly address the serious, wide-spread use of the internet and social media platforms by those preaching anti-Semitism. While he may address anti-Semitism in his speech at the United Nations, his meeting with Musk only had the markings of a self-serving, political face-saving.
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