Israeli President Calls Elon Musk To Discuss Revival Of Hostage Talks: Report
Israel President Isaac Herzog has reportedly called Tech billionaire Elon Musk earlier this week to discuss the revival of talks to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.
President Herzog had made a call to Musk, who has been appointed by US President-elect Donald Trump to oversee the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), at the request of hostage family members, CNN reported citing source close to Herzog.
The conversation was part of Herzog’s “wide and fairly extensive efforts to apply pressure on all parties” to secure a truce deal, the source said. The latest conversation between Musk and Herzog was of a “general nature, and from a policy to put pressure wherever pressure can be placed to keep the issue” front and centre, the source further said.
The unconventional outreach to Musk signifies the Tesla CEO’s outsize role during the transition period and the lengths to which the desperate families of hostages must resort to inject urgency into the issue.
Earlier it was claimed that the tech billionaire had met Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in a bid to defuse tensions between Tehran and Washington. Iran’s ambassador reportedly urged Musk in the meeting to seek US sanctions exemptions and conduct business in Tehran.
However, neither the Trump transition team nor Iran’s mission to the United Nations confirmed the reports of the meeting, while Iranian mission denied to comment on any development.
The development comes days after United States President-elect Donald Trump had warned that that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East” if the hostages being held in Gaza aren’t released before he is sworn in as President on January 20, 2025.
As per the reports, about 100 hostages (dead and alive), 96 of whom were taken during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel last year, are still held in the besieged enclave. In November 2023, Musk had travelled to Israel to meet leaders and the relatives of hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure from the families of those captured to secure their release. Trump has blamed outgoing US President Joe Biden for failing to secure the release of the hostages, and is banking on a renewed set of negotiations to succeed.
Hamas took 250 people hostages in the last year’s attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 people. While dozens were released in a brief Israeli hostage-for-Palestinian prisoner swap in November last year, the rest have remained captive despite many failed rounds of indirect negotiations between the US and Israel with mediators Egypt and Qatar.