A Silicon Valley VC Says He Got the IDF Starlink Access Within Days of October 7 Attack

Prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Shaun Maguire said on a webinar last week that he personally facilitated getting the Israel Defense Forces access to Starlink satellite internet, which is operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, within hours or days of it beginning its military response in Gaza to Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023—far earlier than either Israel, Musk, or SpaceX have publicly acknowledged.

The topic was initially broached by Tel Aviv–based venture capitalist Aviv Eyal, who was introducing Maguire at the beginning of the May 14 webinar titled “Why VCs Are Betting On Defense Tech." The webinar was hosted by the Israeli Defense Ministry's “Mafat for Startups,” a defense startup investment program run by its Directorate of Defense Research & Development.

It is unclear exactly when Starlink was activated for IDF use, even according to Eyal and Maguire’s recollections. Eyal initially claimed on the webinar that it took Maguire “12 hours, maybe less, to get Starlink switched on over Israel.” Maguire added that he believed Eyal contacted him some time between October 8 and October 9; later on the webinar, Maguire said that he brought Starlink to the IDF on October 9. Israel would not officially approve of SpaceX’s limited use in the country until more than four months later. It also appears that SpaceX did not have a contractual agreement with the Pentagon at the time it began providing Starlink to the IDF, which the Pentagon required before SpaceX could provide Starlink to Ukraine. The Pentagon did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

“There's always the most kind of chaos and opportunity in the immediate aftermath after a catastrophe like that,” Maguire said on the webinar.

Eyal also said that Maguire, who has invested in SpaceX, introduced him to the head of country licensing of Starlink at SpaceX, and “really helped shepherd us through the first couple of months of getting Starlink into the hands of the IDF.”

“And it went on to be an absolute game changer and a huge success,” Eyal said.

Eyal is the cofounder and managing partner of the venture capital firm Entrée Capital. It’s unclear what Eyal’s relationship with the IDF was at the time he reached out to Maguire. However, Maguire noted on the webinar that, in the initial days after the attack, both he and Eyal, “in our own ways, started getting involved and trying to help Israel just in the immediate aftermath.”

Maguire did not respond for comment. When reached by WIRED, Eyal said that his reply was off the record, a condition WIRED did not agree to. He said that the webinar “was held ‘off the record’ and stated as such at the start of the webinar.” However, this was not stated during the webinar nor in the event description.

“You misunderstood the conversion, and as such your questions are not on topic and any conclusions you draw and write will unfortunately be incorrect and just an embarrassment,” Eyal said in his message. “Shaun's role is incorrect, and the dates you quote are incorrect as well as other key info.”

Eyal did not reply to two follow-up messages that contained quotes from the webinar and offered Eyal the opportunity to correct or clarify anything that was said.

On October 20, 2023, the IDF launched an offensive in Gaza that specifically targeted the territory’s internet and telecommunications infrastructure. This resulted in a “complete disruption” of internet and cellular communication for the then 2.3 million people living there.

A few days later, Elon Musk began what would reportedly become tense negotiations with the Israeli Communications Ministry to provide Starlink access in the area. On October 28, Musk said on X that Starlink would “support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza” in a reply to US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drawing attention to the communications blackout.

Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi, in a quote-post of Musk, said that Israel would “use all means at its disposal to fight this,” claiming that Hamas would find a way to access and use Starlink for “terrorist activities.”

“Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people,” Karhi wrote. “All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with starlink.”

Musk replied a few hours later, saying, “We are not so naive.”

“Per my post, no Starlink terminal has attempted to connect from Gaza,” Musk added. “If one does, we will take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used *only* for purely humanitarian reasons. Moreover, we will do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal.”

The Israeli Communications Ministry did not approve any use of Starlink in Israel or Gaza until February 14, 2024. At that point, Kahri said in a post on X, Starlink could be used both in Israel and at a United Arab Emirates–run field hospital in Rafah.

“The use of the company's services will be limited at first with broader use expected in the future,” Kahri said in the post.

Eyal mentioned on the webinar that it is currently "a matter of weeks” before Starlink is “launched for Israel as a whole” and available to any person or business. It is unclear if this access will include the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

SpaceX, the IDF, and the Israeli Communications Ministry did not respond for comment.

According to Agence France-Presse, 1,189 Israelis died as a result of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. Hamas also took 251 Israelis to Gaza as hostages, of which 58 remain, and 23 are believed to be alive.

Between 53,000 and 62,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s military offensive into Gaza that followed October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and Government Media Office. The exact death toll is unclear, because there is an unknown number of bodies buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Israel has blocked any food or medical aid entering Gaza since the beginning of March, which aid workers say have resulted in increasingly catastrophic and dire living conditions.