A silicone adhesive for a semiconductor element that is suitable as a die bonding material for fixing a light emitting diode chip to a substrate. The adhesive includes (a) an addition reaction-curable silicone resin composition having a viscosity at 25° C. of not more than 100 Pa·s, and yielding a cured product upon heating at 150° C. for 3 hours that has a type D hardness prescribed in JIS K6253 of at least 30, (b) a white pigment powder having an average particle size of less than 1 μm, and (c) a white or colorless and transparent powder having an average particle size of at least 1 μm but less than 10 μm. The adhesive exhibits high levels of concealment, effectively reflects light emitted from the LED chip, and also exhibits favorable chip positioning properties, superior adhesive strength, and excellent durability.