JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP)— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk was being “falsely smeared” in a row over a gesture he made at Donald Trump’s inauguration that critics described as a Nazi salute.

“Elon is a great friend of Israel,” Netanyahu posted on X, the social media site owned by Musk.

The billionaire, whom Trump has tasked with slashing US government spending, “repeatedly and forcefully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against genocidal terrorists and regimes who seek to annihilate the one and only Jewish state”, Netanyahu added.

He mentioned Musk’s visit to Israel in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas. That trip followed a separate row in which the Tesla chief executive was accused of anti-Semitism.

At the time, Musk had endorsed a post accusing Jewish people of “hatred against whites”, calling it “the actual truth”. He later apologised.

His social media platform has been accused of spreading anti-Semitism and other forms of racism since he took it over in 2022.

During the November 2023 visit, Musk toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas alongside Netanyahu and met Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who told him he had “a huge role to play” in combating anti-Semitism.

Musk himself has already dismissed the criticism over his inauguration gesture, posting on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”