Israel condemns Lavrov’s comments on Hitler’s ‘Jewish blood’
Jerusalem, May 2 (EFE).- Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid condemned Monday statements by his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, claiming Adolf Hitler had Jewish blood like Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy.
In response to Lavrov’s controversial statement on Sunday, the Israeli foreign ministry summoned the Russian Ambassador to Israel for a “clarification meeting,” according to a press release by the ministry.
“Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error,” said Lapid.
“Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism,” he added.
In an interview Sunday on the Italian channel Rete 4, which was Lavrov’s first to a European media since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb.24, the minister claimed that alleged neo-Nazis had infiltrated into Ukrainian institutions.
On being reminded about Zelenskyy’s Jewish origins, Lavrov said that even Hitler “had Jewish blood.”
“So what if Zelenskyy is Jewish. The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said, adding that “some of the worst antisemites are Jews.”
According to the Russian minister, Moscow does not seek regime change in Ukraine, and their objective was to guarantee the security of the people to the east of Ukraine, who he considered were threatened by supposed militarization and Nazification.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, while condemning the invasion, Israel has maintained a rather moderate stance toward Russia because of their strategic alliance in the Middle East, where the Jewish state coordinates with Moscow to attack pro-Iranian positions in Syria.
Israel has refrained from imposing sanctions on Russia, or delivering weapons to Ukraine.
However, it sent humanitarian aid to the war ravaged country and has welcomed Ukrainian refugees and Ukrainian people of Jewish origin with an opportunity to seek Israeli citizenship. EFE
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