Israel slams Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement that ‘Hitler also had Jewish blood’

Remarks “scandalous, unforgivable and a horrific historical error”. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid sharply criticized, on Monday May 2, the remarks of his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, who had affirmed that Hitler “had Jewish blood”. He also summoned the Russian ambassador to obtain “clarification”. The Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, for his part denounced the use of the Holocaust as “political tool”.

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Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Israel has tried to maintain a delicate balance between Kyiv and Moscow, but Sergei Lavrov’s comments Sunday night on an Italian channel sparked outrage. His claims were also condemned by Ukraine, which deemed them “odious”, and Germany, which denounced a declaration “absurd” of the head of Russian diplomacy.

Russia has repeatedly said that it wants “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine, a former Soviet republic headed by pro-Western leaders. Ukrainian President Volodymyr “Zelensky makes this argument: how can Nazism be present [en Ukraine] if he himself is Jewish. I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood”had said Sergei Lavrov, whose statement was transcribed on his ministry’s website.