In a post on social media, Netanyahu said that Musk is being “falsely smeared” and suggested that Musk’s support of Israel is proof that he isn’t antisemitic — even as numerous Jewish and anti-hate groups and observers have said that Musk’s now-infamous salute was clearly a Nazi salute.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Elon Musk after he was accused of doing a Nazi salute at an event following Monday’s inauguration. “@elonmusk is being falsely smeared,” he wrote in a Thursday post on the social platform X.