A Silicon Valley VC Got Israel Starlink Access Within Days of October 7 Attack
Credit to Author: Caroline Haskins| Date: Mon, 19 May 2025 16:37:18 +0000
In a webinar last week, prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist Shaun Maguire took part in a discussion about the facilitation of Starlink to Israel after Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, which included anecdotes of how he helped the country get access to the satellite telecommunication provider. There was even a mention of how Maguire assisted in connecting the Israel Defense Forces with Starlink after the attack—an association that has not previously been publicly acknowledged.
The topic was initially broached by Tel Aviv–based venture capitalist Avi 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. On the webinar, Eyal described calling Maguire and saying, “Shaun, we have a major problem in Israel. We need to turn Starlink on immediately to help the Israeli military.” He then claimed that it took Maguire “12 hours, maybe less, to get Starlink switched on over Israel,” although he did not specify in what capacity. Maguire added that he believed Eyal contacted him some time between October 8 and October 9; later on the webinar, Maguire clarified that Eyal contacted him on October 9, at which point he helped with the introduction and facilitation of Starlink to the country "in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe like that."
According to Eyal, Shaun “introduced me also to the head of of country licensing at Starlink at SpaceX, and really helped shepherd us through the first couple of months of of getting Starlink into the hands of the IDF.” 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 Israelthe IDF, which the Pentagon required before SpaceX could provide Starlink to Ukraine. The Pentagon did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
“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 commit to 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.
Correction: 5/20/2025 2:45 PM EDT: WIRED has corrected statements that were previously attributed to Shaun Maguire, and has added additional context to clarify the timeline of when Starlink was accessible within Israel, as well as to the Israel Defense Forces. WIRED has also corrected the spelling of Avi Eyal's name, and updated when Israel enabled Starlink to be operational.