Israel called on the Russian ambassador and apologized for remarks by Kremlin Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that “the fiercest anti-Semites are usually Jews.”
The remarks were part of Lavrov’s defense of Russia’s policy of “denazification” in Ukraine, the Kremlin’s term for a massive purge that Ukraine says is a pretext for “mass murder.”
In an interview with Italian television, Lavrov was asked to say how Russia could say it should “disinfect” the country when its president, Vladimir Zelensky, is Jewish.
“As for [Zelenskiy’s] “An argument about what kind of nationalization we can have if I’m Jewish, if I remember correctly and maybe I’m wrong, Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said in an interview with Italy’s Mediaset. “It doesn’t mean anything at all.”
“For a long time we have listened to the wise Jewish people who say that the fiercest anti-Semites are usually Jews,” Lavrov continued. “There is no family without a monster.”
The remarks sparked a diplomatic dispute with Israel, one of the few Western nations that has yet to impose sanctions on Russia over its invasion and has not provided military assistance to Ukraine.
“Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement, as well as a terrible historical mistake,” said Yair Lapid, Israel’s foreign minister. “Jews did not commit suicide in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse the Jews themselves of anti-Semitism.
Israeli authorities also apologized to Russia for the remarks.
“His words are wrong and their intentions are wrong,” said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. “The use of the Holocaust by the Jewish people as a political tool must stop immediately.
Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Zelensky, called Lavrov’s statement “anti-Semitic” and said it was “another proof that Russia is a legitimate successor to Nazi ideology.”
“In trying to rewrite history, Moscow is simply looking for arguments to justify the mass killings of Ukrainians,” he said.
Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial, also condemned Lavrov’s remarks as “absurd, deceptive, dangerous and reprehensible.”
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The organization also attacked Zelensky in March for comparing Russia’s intentions in Ukraine to the Holocaust.
Lavrov has turned to Zelensky’s religion in the past, while Moscow has been pressured to explain how it can “denazify” a country with a Jewish leader. In March, shortly after Russia started its war in Ukraine, Lavrov told ABC News: “I think the Nazis and neo-Nazis are manipulating [Zelenskiy]”
In an interview this week, Lavrov also said he did not want Ukraine to surrender, but simply “to stop resisting.”
“It simply came to our notice then [Zelenskiy] to surrender, “Lavrov said.” We urge him to order the release of all civilians and stop resisting. Our goal does not include regime change in Ukraine.
Italian TV channel Mediaset has also been criticized for giving Lavrov a seat, with Enrico Leta, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, describing an exclusive interview with the current Zona bianca program as a “propaganda advertisement”.
Laura Garavani, a senator from the small party Italia Via, said that the interview conducted by Giuseppe Brindisi “is an insulting spectacle for a democracy like ours.” The network acted as a soundboard for Russian propaganda, leaving Lavrov to speak undisturbed, denying the crimes he was committing without cross-examination.
Ruth Duregello, president of the Jewish community in Rome, said Lavrov’s statements were “misleading and dangerous” and that their most serious aspect was that they were made on Italian television, without cross-examination and without the host opposing the lies. which were uttered. ” “This is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go unnoticed,” she added.
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