WASHINGTON – Major Jewish organizations and U.S. officials on Monday sharply condemned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's comments comparing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Adolf Hitler.
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder said he joined Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in "deploring Foreign Minister Lavrov’s unfortunate comments as being beyond any legitimate and permissible rhetoric. Comparing any Jew, let alone Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, to Hitler is beyond the pale, and accusing Jews of antisemitism feeds into the agendas of the worst antisemites and neo-Nazis."
Lauder called on Lavrov to publicly retract his comments "to avoid pouring further gasoline on an already surging global antisemitic fire.”
On Sunday, Lavrov told Italian media that the fact Zelenskyy is Jewish does not negate Ukraine's supposed Nazi elements, claiming that the Nazi German leader also "had Jewish blood," adding that "the wise Jewish people said that the most ardent antisemites are usually Jews."
American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris, speaking on behalf of his organization, said "we’ve repeatedly said denazification is needed – in Moscow, not Kyiv. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, one of Putin’s enablers-in-chief, makes clear why. His statement is grotesque."
The Anti-Defamation League added that Lavrov "turned to highly offensive analogies and false comparisons" in his "transparently desperate efforts to justify Russia's...
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