Israel condemns Sergei Lavrov’s remark that Hitler ‘had Jewish blood’ – POLITICO

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday condemned statements by his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that Hitler had Jewish blood as “unforgivable and outrageous”.

during one interview Speaking on Italian television Sunday night, Lavrov claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, does not negate that his country has Nazi elements – a line pushed by Moscow to justify its deadly invasion. “I believe Hitler had Jewish blood too, some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews,” Lavrov added.

Israel quickly struck back.

“Foreign Minister Lavrov’s statements are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement and a terrible historical mistake,” Lapid said in a Explanation. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism,” he added.

Also the Israeli Minister of Communications Yoaz Henkell blown up Lavrov’s claim about Hitler as “delusions designed to justify the terrible acts of the Russians in Ukraine”. Hendel said on Sunday he would not accept the “cheaping down of the Holocaust.”

Ukraine also condemned Lavrov. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyi, tweeted“Lavrov’s outright anti-Semitic statements … are proof that Russia is a successor to Nazi ideology.”

In the days after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett travelled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin claims that Israel had offered to help negotiate a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Bennett has yet to publicly respond to Lavrov’s inflammatory remarks about Hitler.