New Delhi: Israel has reacted furiously to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s Sunday comments that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” and that Jews were among the worst anti-Semites.
Israeli foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday, “This is an unforgivable and scandalous comment, a terrible historical error and we expect an apology.”
“Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism,” he said.
Lavrov made the comments during an interview to an Italian television channel over the weekend, reiterating Russia’s claim that its invasion of Ukraine was to “de-Nazify” the country. He said Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Jewishness did not undermine Russia’s mission.
Lavrov added: “He [Zelensky] puts forward an argument: what kind of Nazism can they have if he is a Jew. I may be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. It means absolutely nothing. The wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”
Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yad Vashem Holocaust research centre in Israel, said Lavrov’s comments were “absurd and dangerous”.
He tweeted: “The remarks of Russian FM Lavrov are absurd, dangerous and deserve condemnation. Lavrov is propagating the inversion of the Holocaust — turning the victims into the criminals on the basis of promoting a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent.
“Equally serious is calling the Ukrainians in general, and President Zelenskyy in particular, Nazis. This, among other things, is a complete distortion of history and a serious affront to the victims of Nazism.”
Lavrov also told Italian broadcaster Mediaset that the Russian military would not forcefully adjust their actions during the special operation in Ukraine to any date, including Victory Day, which is celebrated in Russia on 9 May.
The day celebrates Nazi Germany’s surrender to allied forces — including to the then Soviet Union — in 1945.
“The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends, first of all, on the need to minimise any risks for the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” Lavrov said, adding, “Our troops will not artificially adjust their actions to any date, including Victory Day.”
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