The Israeli government has described Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statements that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “has Jewish blood” as “unforgivable”.
Lavrov made statements to try to justify his accusation that Russia is a “Nazi” despite having a Jewish president.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador for “clarifications” and demanded an apology. Nazi Germany massacred six million Jews in the Holocaust in World War II.
Lavrov said these words in an interview with Italian TV show Zona Bianca on Sunday, days after Israel celebrated Holocaust Remembrance Day, one of the most solemn days on the Israeli calendar.
Asked how President Volodymyr Zelensky could claim that Russia was fighting to “seize” Ukraine while he was Jewish, Lavrov replied, “What if Zelensky is Jewish?” said.
“The truth does not deny the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe Hitler also had Jewish blood,” he said, adding that “some of the worst Jewish enemies are Jews.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid angrily reacted to Lavrov’s statement, accusing him of antisemitism.
“The words of Foreign Minister Lavrov are as terrible a historical mistake as it is an inexcusable and outrageous statement. The Jews did not kill themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is when Jews accuse themselves of antisemitism,” he wrote. .
Lavrov was also criticized by Dani Dayan, head of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel.
“Most of your comments are ridiculous, misleading, dangerous and deserve all the reprimand,” he tweeted. “Lavrov is concerned with the reversal of the Holocaust: turning victims into criminals by promoting a completely unsubstantiated claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent.”
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There have been groundless claims for decades that Hitler’s unnamed grandfather was Jewish, fueled by the assertion of Hitler’s lawyer, Hans Frank.
In his memoirs, published in 1953, Frank said that he was instructed by Hitler to investigate rumors of his Jewish descent. Frank said he had found evidence that Hitler’s grandfather was indeed Jewish – but the claim, which gained ground among conspiracy theorists, has been dismissed by mainstream historians.
Russia has repeatedly said one of its goals in the war against Ukraine is what it calls “minority cleansing” of the country, and has made the unfounded claim that its government is steeped in Nazi ideology.
Israel, which has close relations with Ukraine and Russia, has been at the forefront of international mediation efforts to try to end the war.
source: Noticias
