Netanyahu comments on Elon Musk’s Hitler salute-like gesture

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Lerato Khumalo

Benjamin Netanyahu defends Elon Musk. Trump’s new Secretary of State has planned a trip to Panama. All developments in the news blog.

7:48 p.m.: In view of the global criticism of Elon Musk for a gesture similar to a Nazi salute, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended the US tech billionaire. Musk was “falsely slandered” after the gesture at the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu wrote on Musk’s online platform

On Monday, Musk spoke to his supporters at the inauguration of the right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, whom he had massively supported in the election campaign, and made a gesture several times that was reminiscent of a Hitler salute. He himself had rejected the subsequent excitement as unfounded, but he was celebrated for it in right-wing online networks.

Netanyahu now emphasized: “Elon is a great friend of Israel.” The Trump confidant “repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to self-defense against the genocidal terrorists and regimes that want to destroy the only Jewish state.” He referred to Musk’s trip to Israel after the attack on the country by the radical Islamic Hamas on October 7, 2023. After the trip, Musk was also accused of anti-Semitism. At the time, he supported a post that said Jews “hate white people.” Musk called this “the actual truth.” He later apologized.

5:52 p.m.: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will set off on a trip abroad next week, which will also take him to Panama. As his spokeswoman Tammy Bruce explains, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic will also be on Rubio’s visit program.

The new US President Donald Trump reiterated in his inaugural speech on Monday that he wants to restore US control over the Panama Canal, which it built at the beginning of the 20th century.

10.15 a.m.: Tesla boss Elon Musk has become increasingly unpopular with the US public since he took over as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll conducted among 750 registered voters between January 9th and 14th, Musk’s popularity rating currently stands at 40 percent, while 51 percent have a negative opinion of him.

As recently as October, his approval and rejection ratings were equal at 45 percent each. President Donald Trump had entrusted Musk with the task of reducing government spending and ensuring efficient use of taxpayer money.

8.30 a.m.: US President Donald Trump has appointed Secret Service agent Sean Curran as the new director of the security agency. Curran, who rushed to the scene to protect Trump during the July assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, replaces Ronald Rowe at the helm of the agency.

“He demonstrated his fearless courage when he risked his own life to save mine from an assassin’s bullet,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The Secret Service was heavily criticized for security deficiencies after the incident, prompting the previous director, Kimberly Cheatle, to resign.