Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu to satisfy Elon Musk amid antisemitism controversy : NPR

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will probably be in California in the present day assembly with tech leaders earlier than heading to New York Metropolis for the United Nations Common Meeting. Amongst these tech leaders is Elon Musk, whose social media platform, X, or Twitter, has been flooded with antisemitic hate in current weeks, a few of it amplified by Musk in his personal tweets. The goal of a lot of these messages, it is the Anti-Defamation League, a gaggle that describes its focus as combating antisemitism and all types of hate.

Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO and nationwide director of the Anti-Defamation League. We’ve got him right here on the road. Jonathan, so what do you make of the Netanyahu-Musk assembly?

JONATHAN GREENBLATT: Nicely, look; I am conscious that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Elon Musk are assembly in San Francisco in the present day. Nothing in regards to the assembly is especially shocking given Musk’s vary of enterprise pursuits like Starlink and SpaceX and Israel’s know-how sector, which is among the most revolutionary and dynamic on this planet. However as you stated within the opening, Israel and Jews incessantly are targets of hateful anti-Zionist and antisemitic invective on Twitter/X. So what I might hope is that they could have a productive assembly a couple of vary of points, however they may discuss concrete methods to fight the rampant antisemitism and the grotesque anti-Zionism that dominates the platform.

MARTÍNEZ: Now, we must always stipulate that the Anti-Defamation League has been vital of Netanyahu and his authorities insurance policies. What do you suppose, although, Jonathan, are the probabilities that Netanyahu would use his leverage on this assembly in the present day?

GREENBLATT: Nicely, I might hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu would use his leverage. Look; Israel’s the homeland of the Jewish individuals, no matter how they vote or what they worth and even the place they reside. And so it is crucial for the prime minister to acknowledge that what Elon Musk has completed – and his platform, even earlier than Elon purchased it – is to normalize the type of ugly antisemitism that we used to affiliate with Cossacks and Nazis and white supremacists. Now you possibly can see it 24/7 with only a click on on X.

MARTÍNEZ: What do you suppose Musk’s response could be if Netanyahu, certainly, tried to make use of his leverage? Do you suppose he’d get anyplace?

GREENBLATT: Look. I hope the prime minister will deliver the receipts. It is not onerous to see for those who open up the platform and simply take a look at the hashtag that was exploding in the previous couple of weeks, #BanTheADL. This was a hashtag that was began by a variety of antisemites and white supremacists and QAnon varieties after I met with Linda Yaccarino, Elon’s CEO, two weeks in the past. And you’ll see lots of of 1000’s of mentions, A, with every kind of ugly invective, the kind of factor you would not need your youngsters to see. And but, once more, it is accessible with a click on on X. So I hope the prime minister will push Elon to say concretely what he’ll do to take the hate off the platform.

MARTÍNEZ: And I feel you and your group are in a bizarre spot since you attempt to fight antisemitism on a social media website the place the positioning’s proprietor permits it to occur. So the place does that depart you?

GREENBLATT: Yeah. It is a unusual state of affairs, certainly, the place the proprietor is type of a protagonist on this drama. However look; ADL works with all of the tech corporations from Alphabet to Zoom, all of them, as a result of once more, we wish to make it – we wish to be constructive, and we wish to assist them get it higher. However clearly, Twitter just isn’t trending in the correct course. There’s actual work to be completed to detoxify it, if you’ll, and we hope that’ll begin with this assembly.

MARTÍNEZ: Jonathan Greenblatt is nationwide director of the Anti-Defamation League. Jonathan, thanks.

GREENBLATT: Thanks for having me.

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