Rishi Sunak slams Elon Musk’s ‘wrong’ remarks as antisemitism row deepens

Sunak said scenes of hostages being released by Hamas were ‘very heartening’

Rishi Sunak has offered a rebuke of billionaire Elon Musk, as he said that he condemned antisemitism “in all its forms”.

The prime minister also said that scenes of hostages being released by Hamas were “very heartening” after militants freed 17 more hostages in the third set of releases under a temporary truce.

The comments by Mr Sunak come after Mr Musk sparked an outcry this month with his own posts responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism.

“You have said the actual truth,” Mr Musk tweeted in a reply on Wednesday.

Mr Musk has also faced accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has faced increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

The prime minister did not criticise Mr Musk directly, stopping short of the stronger condemnation by the White House of the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mr Sunak said: “I don’t tend to get in the business of scrutinising what every single person says who I’ve interacted with, of course I abhor antisemitism.

“And as you said, we’ve been unequivocal from the start of this situation that that is not acceptable in our society.

“And we’ve been very firm about that. I’ve personally been very firm about that. It’s very sad what is happening.

But pressed again, he said: “I condemn all antisemitism, right. It’s not about any one particular personality.

Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

“I condemn antisemitism in all its forms. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Elon Musk or you’re someone on the street who’s shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past, that’s wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong.”

The prime minister, who is an avid fan of tech entrepreneurship, had an unusual sit-down interview with Mr Musk to close his AI summit earlier this month.

Mr Sunak also used the interview to call on on all sides to “honour” the temporary ceasefire deal.

It came on the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

“We’ve been consistently clear during this awful tragedy that Israel does have a right to defend itself,” Mr Sunak said.

“It should do that in accordance with humanitarian law. And we’ve also consistently called for sustained humanitarian pauses where aid can get in but also hostages can come out.

“And I’m glad that that that is now happening.

“I think all of us will have seen some of the scenes over the past day or two and found that very heartening.

“It’s important that everyone honours the agreement and we can continue to see more progress.”

Sunday saw tens of thousands of people, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, attend a march against antisemitism in London.

Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers said the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a “no-go zone for Jews”.

Charity Campaign Against Antisemitism called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936 when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.

The day before, tens of thousands had also gathered for the latest demonstration, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.