- Israel has taken a relatively neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, focusing on sanctions against Moscow or deadly aid to Kyiv.
- But Russia accuses Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine, which could change that.
- Israel has tried to stay on Russia’s good side because of security concerns over Iranian activities in Syria.
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Russia on Tuesday escalated a rhetorical dispute with Israel over Ukraine, essentially accusing Israelis of being pro-Nazi, expressing support for Kyiv, which it falsely called a “neo-Nazi regime.” Moscow risks rejecting one of the only countries with close ties to the United States that remains relatively neutral and has not yet imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine or provided weapons to Kyiv.
The dispute began after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over the weekend made the baseless claim that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was of Jewish descent in an attempt to support Russia’s farcical claim that he was “denazifying” Ukraine.
Russia maintains that its war in Ukraine is being waged against the country’s “neo-Nazi” leaders – a false claim that is fundamentally undermined by the fact that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is a democratically elected leader who is Jewish and who lost a family during the Holocaust. . But Russia has repeatedly spread this baseless story in an attempt to justify its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“When they say ‘What a nationalization it is if we are Jews,’ I think Hitler was also of Jewish descent, so that doesn’t mean anything,” Lavrov told Reuters in an interview with Italian television.
“We have long heard wise Jewish people say that the greatest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” Lavrov added.
The Israeli government was outraged by Lavrov’s comments.
“Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most horrific crimes in history against them,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid addressed Lavrov, calling the Russian diplomat’s remarks “unforgivable” and “the lowest form of racism.”
“Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement, as well as a terrible historical mistake. “Jews did not commit suicide in the Holocaust,” Lapid wrote on Twitter. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse the Jews themselves of anti-Semitism.”
Instead of apologizing, Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday prosecuted Lapid, accusing the Israeli foreign minister of making “anti-historical statements” that largely explain “why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”
Israel has been offering humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war and has joined the United States and its allies in voting to condemn Russia at the UN for the invasion. Lapid also accused Russia of war crimes over the Bucha-style killings. But Israel has stopped backing sanctions or providing deadly aid to Ukraine, despite pressure from lawmakers in Washington and the Ukrainian government.
The presence of the Russian army in Syria has prompted Israel to be careful when it comes to the war in Ukraine. Israel is coordinating with Russia to strike at Iranian targets in Syria and sees maintaining friendly relations with Moscow as important for its security.
Approximately 15% of the Israeli population is also Russian-speaking – many are immigrants or families of immigrants from the former Soviet Union – and Israel has strong cultural ties with Russia and Ukraine. In this way, Israel offered to help mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a so-called “special military operation” in late February.
In this context, Russia’s insistence on opposing Israel and accusing it of supporting neo-Nazis is a curious approach that could lead the Israeli government to join the crippling economic sanctions imposed on Russia, and possibly even force it to supply Ukraine. with weapons.
Israeli authorities have discussed increasing aid to Ukraine and believe that providing defense systems that help protect troops on the ground, among other forms of aid that do not include modern weapons, will not cause a crisis with Moscow, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported. Tuesday.
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