Elon Musk replies to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s photo making a 'Tesla statement'

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a 'Tesla statement'. Netanyahu shared a picture of himself and his wife with Elon Musk in front of a Tesla Cybertruck on his Twitter account. The photo which has Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, was clicked in September 2023 in front of the then yet-to-be released Tesla Cybertruck during a tour of a Tesla factory in Fremont, California. Tesla CEO Elon Musk replied thanked Netanyahu for his Tesla post. "Much appreciated," he wrote.

Netanyahu shared a news report from JNS.org stating that Israel has invited Tesla Inc. to bid on a government tender for electric vehicles intended for senior officials. A high-ranking Israeli official informed JNS that Israel has extended an invitation to Tesla to participate in the tender. The decision reflects Jerusalem’s focus on securing top-tier, high-performance vehicles, disregarding ideological debates. The official reportedly remarked, “A great car is a great car, plain and simple.”
Rejecting pressure to conform to progressive ideologies, the senior official told JNS, “We won’t bend to woke trends. “Teslas are great cars and we look forward to studying their bid,” the official added, as per the report.

Earlier this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped in to defend the Tesla CEO's alleged Nazi salute. Dismissing accusations tied to Musk’s alleged gesture resembling a Nazi salute at a January 20, 2025, presidential inauguration event in Washington, DC. Netanyahu took to Twitter on January 23, saying that Musk was "being falsely smeared." The Prime Minister highlighted Musk’s visit to Israel following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack—the deadliest against Jews since the Holocaust—and his consistent support for Israel’s self-defense against threats from “genocidal terrorists and regimes.” "Elon is a great friend of Israel. He visited Israel after the October 7, [2023]massacre in which Hamas terrorists committed the worst atrocity against the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” tweeted Netanyahu.
Elon Musk joined Netanyahu as his personal invitation during his joint address to the US Congress in January 2024.
Recently, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney supported Elon Musk's claim that protests against Tesla are backed by billionaire donors, including George Soros and Reid Hoffman. Responding to Musk’s post on X, Sweeney called the situation "disgusting," seemingly agreeing with Musk's characterization.