Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday slammed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who claimed Hitler “had Jewish blood” and summoned the Russian ambassador for “clarifications.”
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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Jewish state has tried to maintain a delicate balance between Kyiv and Moscow, but Mr. Lavrov’s comments on an Italian channel on Sunday sparked outrage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr “Zelensky makes this argument: how can Nazism be present (in Ukraine) if he himself is Jewish”, declared Sunday evening Mr. Lavrov, whose remarks were transcribed on the site of his ministry.
And to add: “I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood”.
“Minister Lavrov’s remarks are at the same time scandalous, unforgivable and a horrible historical error”, condemned in a brief press release Yaïr Lapid. He said the Russian ambassador to Israel had been summoned for “clarifications”.
The president of Yad Vachem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, Dani Dayan, also condemned Lavrov’s statements, saying they were “baseless, delusional and dangerous remarks that deserve condemnation”.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba lamented that “Mr. Lavrov cannot hide the deeply rooted anti-Semitism within the Russian elites”.
“These hateful comments are offensive to President Zelensky, Ukraine, Israel and the Jewish people,” he added on Twitter.
“The directly anti-Semitic remarks of Lavrov (…) are the proof that Russia is the successor of the Nazi ideology”, supported for his part an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
For the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriï Yermak, “Russia’s anti-Semitism is becoming more and more visible” and “is indicative of the conspiracy theories on which dictatorial regimes are always built”.
According to German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, this statement is “absurd” and “the Russian propaganda disseminated by Mr. Lavrov needs no comment”.
In a speech at the end of March to elected members of the Israeli Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Israel to “make a choice” by supporting Ukraine against Russia and asked the Jewish state to provide it with weapons.
Israel has notably provided protective equipment to Ukraine but has not recently sent weapons, Israeli officials said.