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Israel blasts Russia over Lavrov's claim Hitler was Jewish

Started by GLR, Mon 02 May 2022

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GLR

Israel blasts Russia over Lavrov's claim Hitler was Jewish

May 2, 2022


Israel on Monday lashed out at Russia over comments by its foreign minister about Nazism and antisemitism -- including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.

Israel, which summoned the Russian ambassador in response, said the remarks blamed Jews for their own murder in the Holocaust. Asked in an interview with an Italian news channel about Russian claims that it invaded Ukraine to "denazify" the country, Sergey Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements even if some figures, including the country's president, were Jewish. "So when they say `How can Nazification exist if we're Jewish?' In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn't mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish," he said... In some of the harshest remarks since the start of the war in Ukraine, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Lavrov's statement "unforgivable and scandalous and a horrible historical error."...



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Later, Lapid said Israel makes "every effort" to have good relations with Russia. The government of Russia needs to apologize to us and to the Jewish people," he said. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has been more measured in his criticism of Russia's invasion, also condemned Lavrov's comments. "His words are untrue and their intentions are wrong," he said. "Using the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political tool must cease immediately." Israel's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem called the remarks "absurd, delusional, dangerous and deserving of condemnation." In Germany, government spokesman Steffen Hebstreit said the Russian government's "propaganda" efforts weren't worthy of comment, calling them "absurd." ...


Israel is home to a shrinking population of 165,000 Holocaust survivors, most in their 80s and 90s, and last week the country marked its annual Holocaust memorial day. But those aims sometimes clash with its other national interests. Russia has a military presence in neighboring Syria, and Israel, which carries out frequent strikes on enemy targets in the country, relies on Russia for security coordination to prevent their forces from coming into conflict with one another. While it has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and expressed support for its people, Israel has been measured in its criticism of Russia. It has not joined international sanctions against Russia or provided military aid to Ukraine.


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