Israel’s government summoned the Russian ambassador because of Lavrov’s statements.
(Photo: imago images/ITAR-TASS)
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has caused outrage in Israel with a Nazi comparison in relation to the Ukraine war. The government in Jerusalem demanded an apology and summoned the Russian ambassador to an interview on Monday.
On Sunday evening on Italian television Rete4, Lavrov repeated the Russian justification for war that Nazis were at work in Ukraine. The counter-argument is: “How can there be nazification if he (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky) is Jewish? I can be wrong But Adolf Hitler also had Jewish blood. That means nothing at all. The wise Jewish people say that the most fervent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Jair Lapid spoke on Monday of an “unforgivable, scandalous statement, a terrible historical error”. “We expect an apology.” Lapid added: “My grandfather didn’t kill Jews, it was Nazis.”
He recommended Lavrov to look in a history book. “Ukrainians are not Nazis. Only the Nazis were Nazis. Only they carried out the systematic extermination of the Jews.” The head of the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan, called Lavrov’s statements “absurd, delusional, dangerous and despicable”.
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Israel has traditionally had good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Since the beginning of the Russian attack, the government has been trying to mediate.
More: Read the current developments in the Ukraine war in the live blog