Israel wants Elon Musk's Starlink as Biden set to visit region
Israel's government says it wants Starlink to help maintain internet connectivity in towns near conflict zones
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Israel is looking to secure the use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites as a backup communication system amid the country’s ongoing war against the Gaza-based Hamas terror group.
The talks between Israel and SpaceX were revealed on Tuesday by a government official and come as President Biden visited Israel on Wednesday. Israel has been at war since a Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7 killed at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 30 Americans. The Israel Defense Forces are preparing a ground incursion into Gaza and have carried out strikes that the Palestinian health authorities have said killed at least 2,800 people.
Israel Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi wrote in a post on X that Israel is working with SpaceX to purchase Starlink satellite communication terminals so that they can be operated in the country to sustain internet connectivity.
He explained that Starlink would help ensure internet connectivity for towns in frontline conflict zones near Israel’s borders with hostile neighbors – such as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has a significant presence and has threatened to enter the war on the side of Hamas.
Israel's communications minister said the country is in talks with SpaceX to obtain Starlink to help maintain internet connectivity in communities near conflict zones. (Nina Lyashonok / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Israeli communities in southern Israel are regularly targeted with rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and several were overrun by Hamas on Oct. 7, with many civilians killed and at least 199 abducted into Gaza as hostages of the terror group.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made the Starlink satellite communications system available on a number of occasions to help provide internet access and connectivity to areas impacted by war and natural disasters. Starlink is a satellite internet constellation made up of thousands of small, mass-produced satellites that are in low Earth orbit and communicate with transceivers on the ground.
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Israeli troops gather near a cordoned-off Israeli police station that was damaged during battles on Oct. 8, 2023, to dislodge Hamas terrorists who took it over. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Starlink was deployed to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion to help Ukrainians maintain communications while Russia degraded and destroyed the infrastructure supporting its internet and communications networks. It has been used by Ukraine’s government, military and civilians – supporting both humanitarian and military uses.
After SpaceX initially self-funded Starlink's deployment to Ukraine, the company pressed the U.S. government to help pay for its use, which the company received a contract for early in the summer of 2023. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in February the company is restricting Ukraine from using Starlink for certain military activities, saying its high-speed broadband was not designed for those purposes.
Starlink has also been used by Iranian citizens amid the government’s 2022 crackdown on protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody, and in Tonga following a volcanic eruption that disrupted internet connectivity.
The passage of SpaceX Starlink satellites is observed in the skies of Sanliurfa, Turkey, on May 4, 2023. (Photo by Arda Kucukkaya/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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In the U.S., SpaceX’s Starlink was used in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian to help restore connectivity, as well as in Maui after the catastrophic wildfires that occurred there over the summer and devastated the town of Lahaina.
FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.