Israel has condemned the allegations made by the Russian Foreign Minister that Adolf Hitler was of Jewish descentaccusing Sergei Lavrov of spreading anti-Semitism and denigrating the Holocaust.
“Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most heinous crimes in history committed against them,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. «“The use of the Jewish people’s Holocaust for political purposes must stop immediately.”he added.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gair Lapid apologized to Lavrov for his comments, which were made yesterday Sunday in an interview he gave to an Italian television network. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the Russian ambassador for “a tough discussion” regarding this claim of the head of the Russian diplomacy.
Lapidt stressed that claiming that Hitler was of Jewish descent was like saying that Jews committed suicide, and accusing Jews of being anti-Semitic was “the highest level of racism.”
There was no immediate comment from the Russian embassy or from Lavrov himself.
During an interview with the Italian television network Rete 4, the Russian Foreign Minister was asked how Moscow might need to “de-Naziize” Ukraine when its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is a Jew.
“When they say, ‘What kind of Nazism is this if we are Jews?’
“For a long time we have been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the greatest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” he added.
Danny Dayan, President of the Yad Vashem Museum of Memory in JerusalemIsrael’s memorial to the six million Jews massacred in the Holocaust, said the Russian foreign minister’s remarks were “an insult and a serious blow to the victims of true Nazism.”
Speaking on the Kahn radio network, Diane claimed that Lavrov was spreading “an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality.”
The identity of one of Hitler’s grandfathers is unknown, but there has been some speculation, which has never been substantiated, that he may have been a Jew.
Lapid rejected Lavrov’s claim that pro-Nazis dominate the Ukrainian government and army.
“Ukrainians are not Nazis. “Only the Nazis were Nazis and only they proceeded to the systematic destruction of the Jewish people.”said Lapid, whose grandfather died in the Holocaust.
A German government spokesman said today that Lavrov’s comment on Hitler was “outrageous” propaganda.
Israel has repeatedly expressed its support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion. However, wary of strained relations with Russia, a powerful mediator in neighboring Syria, has initially avoided direct criticism in Moscow and has not imposed formal sanctions on Russian oligarchs.
However, relationships have become more tensewith Lapid last month accusing Moscow of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Ukrainian president has made similarities between the Russian invasion of his country and World War II. In a speech to the Israeli parliament in March, Zelensky compared the Russian attack on Ukraine to Nazi Germany’s plan to kill all Jews during World War II.
Yad Vashem at the time described his comments as “irresponsible”, saying that they were belittling the historical events of the Holocaust.
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