Is Elon Musk’s criticism of anti-Israel billionaire antisemitic?

The Israeli Foreign Ministry ignored the fact that Soros is a generous donor to numerous social movements, politicians, and charities that are vehemently anti-Israel.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

After Elon Musk criticized Jewish billionaire George Soros – who has used his massive wealth to fund a number of far-left and progressive causes, including the anti-Zionist Black Lives Matter movement and various anti-Israel NGOs – Israeli officials rushed to the philanthropist’s defense.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Musk wrote that Soros reminds him of X-Men villain Magneto. A Twitter user replied that like the comic book bad guy, Soros has good intentions that are being misunderstood by the wider world.

Musk pushed back, writing, “You assume they are good intentions. They are not. He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry took offense at Musk’s tweet, blaming the entrepreneur for what they claimed was an uptick in antisemitic discourse on the site following his statement.

“The phrase ‘The Jews’ spiked today on the list of topics trending on Twitter following a tweet with antisemitic overtones by none other than the owner and CEO of the social network, Elon Musk,” the Foreign Ministry tweeted. They also charged that Musk’s comment “immediately led to antisemitic conspiracy theories on Twitter.”

Notably, the Foreign Ministry ignored the fact that Soros is a generous donor to numerous social movements, politicians, and charities that are vehemently anti-Israel.

His Open Society Foundations chose Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for a “Leadership in Government Fellowship” and paid her $85,307 in 2017. Tlaib, who is known for her antisemitic statements, recently held a “Nakba Day” event demonizing Israel, refused to vote to support Iron Dome replenishment, and has repeatedly made comments that the Jewish state is guilty of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

A Tablet report from 2016 revealed widespread anti-Israel bias in funding from the Open Society Foundations, finding that the organization had methodically created a series of shell nonprofits in order to make it difficult to link the origin of the funding back to Soros.

“We wanted to build… a portfolio of Palestinian grants and in all cases to maintain a low profile and relative distance — particularly on the advocacy front,” read a leaked internal document from the Open Society Foundations.

Soros’ critics have noted his backing for far-left District Attorneys, such as San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin, who implement radical policies like refusing to incarcerate criminals.

Soros’ supporters have often accused people concerned with his policies as being antisemitic or conspiracy theorists.