Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference following talks of representatives of the Arab League states with Russian Foreign Minister in Moscow on April 4, 2022.
Alexander Zemlianichenko | AFP | Getty Images
A rift between Russia and Israel deepened further on Tuesday, with Moscow claiming that the Israeli government is supporting what it called a “neo-Nazi” regime in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Tensions were sparked Sunday following claims by Moscow’s foreign minister that Adolf Hitler was himself part Jewish.
The comments provoked outrage in Israel, which summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology. Israel and Russia have had a close cooperative relationship, and the Israeli government had previously been seen as keeping a fairly neutral line on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, was asked on an Italian TV show, Zona Bianca, how Russia can claim it is fighting to “de-Nazify” Ukraine when that country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is himself Jewish.
Lavrov responded: “I could be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. [That Zelenskyy is Jewish] means absolutely nothing.”
Lavrov then added that “for some time we have heard from wise Jewish people that the biggest antisemites were Jewish.”
The comments prompted a furious response from Israel, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday calling Lavrov’s comments “unforgivable and scandalous, and a horrible historical error.”
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