Ford deletes tweets criticizing Israel

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

The posts branded Israel a “terrorist state”, called for “Free Palestine” and said “ALL EYES ON GAZA”. They got thousands of likes, retweets and comments by Monday afternoon.

In a statement to NewsweekFord said its account had been “compromised.”

Why it matters

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

However, the company has supplied armored vehicles to the Israeli military, including the SandCat Tigris 4×4. 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 auto giant is no stranger to cybersecurity issues after a hacker claimed to have infiltrated Ford and published the confidential records of 44,000 customers across the globe, including names, addresses and purchase history.

Ford’s founder, Henry Ford, revolutionized American manufacturing and brought automobiles to the masses, but his legacy is complicated by his views on Jews and African Americans.

A prominent antisemite, he used his status to spread conspiracy theories about Jews and even bought a struggling newspaper, Dearborn Independentupon 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 anti-Semitic series, which was based on an anti-Semitic hoax, continued for several years and was distributed at Ford dealers. Some articles were later republished in pamphlets of the same name.

It was so successful in spreading anti-Semitic sentiment in the US and abroad 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 issued a letter of apology for his anti-Semitic streak after he had been sued for libel by Aaron Sapiro, a California lawyer who had been criticized in one of the articles. The case, which ended in a trial on charges of jury tampering, sparked an enormous amount of negative press, leading Ford to issue 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 say

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

A spokesman for Ford said Newsweek: “Our X account was briefly compromised and the previous three posts were not approved or submitted by Ford.

“We are investigating.”

Journalist Sulaiman Ahmed from the Sulaiman Unfiltered news and politics show, broadcast: “GIVE THIS@Ford EMPLOYEE A MEDAL.”

Sports podcaster Kristi Yamaguccimane wrote in response to a post that suggested Ford might be anti-Semitic after the initial posts: “Buddy, I have some news for you about the founder of the Ford Motor Company.”

What happens next

Many people on social media threatened to boycott Ford because of the critical posts. The company is investigating the incident.