Leer en Español
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid today condemned the “serious statements” of his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, who said that just like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Adolf Hilter “also had Jewish origins.”
Following this controversial statement, the top Israeli diplomat summoned the Russian ambassador to Israel “for a clarification meeting,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Foreign Minister Lavrov’s comments are an unforgivable and outrageous statement, as well as a terrible historical mistake,” Lapid lamented.
He added, “Jews didn’t commit suicide in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism.”
In an interview yesterday to the Italian channel Rete4, the first in a European medium since the Russian invasion began on February 24, Lavrov insisted on the infiltration of allegedly neo-Nazi sectors in Ukrainian institutions.
When warned about Zelensky’s Jewish roots, Lavrov replied that Hitler “also had Jewish origins.”
Since the outbreak of the conflict, while condemning the invasion, Israel has maintained a rather moderate stance towards Russia. In turn, it has neither applied sanctions against Russia nor delivered arms to Ukraine, although it did send humanitarian aid, took in Ukrainian refugees, and also Ukrainian people of Jewish origin entitled to Israeli citizenship.
