Israel has summoned the Russian ambassador to the country after outrageous remarks made by the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who stated in an interview with Italian television that Hitler had 'Jewish blood'.
The remark was made when Lavrov was questioned by the Italian presenter on how Russia could claim to be 'de-nazifying' Ukraine when their democratically elected president Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, to which Lavrov said:
"I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelensky is Jewish] means absolutely nothing. Wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews."
The remark came just days after Jews marked world Holocaust day, in which they remember the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during the Second World War.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, said of the comments:
"Such lies are meant to blame the Jews themselves for the most terrible crimes in history and thus free the oppressors of the Jews from their responsibility. No war today is the Holocaust or is like the Holocaust."
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also condemned the comments, saying:
"Foreign Minister Lavrov's remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism."
Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism.
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid🟠 (@yairlapid) May 2, 2022
While Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial chief Dani Dayan added:
"Most of his remarks are absurd, delusional, dangerous and deserving of any condemnation. Lavrov deals with the reversal of the Holocaust: turning the victims into criminals, based on the promotion of a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent."
Israel has thus far not taken a hard line against the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, in part due to the large number of Israelis of Russian origin living in the country, but these comments may change that.
Russia has claimed since the start of the invasion that Ukraine is run by neo-Nazis, and while Ukraine does have a far-right fringe, they picked up less than 3% of the vote at the last Ukrainian elections.
[Based on reporting by: BBC]
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