Ford Deletes Tweets Criticizing Israel

2 days ago 30

Ford's official X account on Monday posted a series of tweets criticizing Israel that have since been deleted.

The posts branded Israel a "terrorist state," calling to "Free Palestine," and stating "ALL EYES ON GAZA." They garnered thousands of likes, retweets and comments by Monday afternoon.

In a statement to Newsweek, Ford said its account had been "compromised."

Why It Matters

Ford has a complicated history with Israel. Its founder, Henry Ford, was vocally antisemitic and spread conspiracy theories about the Jewish people.

However, the company has supplied armored vehicles to the Israeli military, including the SandCat Tigris 4x4. The Ford Foundation has also provided aid in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

The posts on X, formerly Twitter, divided people online, with some praising Ford for supporting Palestinians, and others threatening to boycott the company unless someone is fired over them.

What To Know

The automaker giant is no stranger to cybersecurity issues after a hacker claimed to have infiltrated Ford and posted the confidential records of 44,000 customers across the globe, including names, addresses and purchase histories.

Ford's founder, Henry Ford, revolutionized American manufacturing and brought cars to the masses, but his legacy is complicated by his views on Jewish people and African Americans.

As a prominent antisemite, he used his status to spread conspiracy theories about Jewish people and even bought a struggling newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, on which he ran a weekly series from 1920 to 1925 called "The International Jew: The World's Problem" on the paper's front page, according to the History Channel.

The antisemitic series, which was based on an antisemitic hoax, continued for several years and distributed at Ford dealerships. Some articles were later re-published in pamphlets of the same name.

It was so successful at spreading antisemitic sentiment in the U.S. and overseas that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler complimented Ford by name in his book Mein Kampf. In 1938, Germany awarded Ford the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the country's highest medal for foreigners.

On June 30, 1927, Ford released an apology letter for his antisemitic series after he was sued for libel by Aaron Sapiro, a California attorney who has been criticized in one of the articles. The suit, which ended in a mistrial on accusations of jury tampering, triggered a huge amount of negative press, leading to Ford issuing the apology.

It was later revealed that the apology was written by American Jewish Committee President Louis Marshall and just signed by Ford.

What People Are Saying

Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, wrote on X on Monday: "Ford Motor Company must have been hacked by the Free Palestine movement."

A Ford spokesperson told Newsweek: "Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford.

"We are investigating the issue."

Journalist Sulaiman Ahmed of the Sulaiman Unfiltered news and politics show, posted: "GIVE THIS@Ford EMPLOYEE A MEDAL."

Sports podcaster Kristi Yamaguccimane wrote, in response to a post suggesting Ford might be antisemitic after the initial posts: "Buddy, have I got some news for you about the founder of Ford Motor Company."