Israel calls for apology after Russia says Hitler had Jewish roots

Israel lambasted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday for claiming that Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins, saying it was an “unforgivable” falsehood that debased the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.

In a sign of sharply deteriorating relations with Moscow, the Israeli international ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology.

“Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most horrific crimes in history that were committed against them,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett mentioned in a press release. “The use of the Holocaust of the Jewish people for political purposes must stop immediately,” he added.

Lavrov made the assertion on Italian tv on Sunday when he was requested why Russia mentioned it wanted to “denazify” Ukraine if the nation’s personal president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was himself Jewish.

“When they say ‘What sort of nazification is this if we are Jews’, well I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing,” Lavrov informed Rete 4 channel, talking via an Italian interpreter. “For a long time now we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” he added.

Russian FM Sergey Lavrov mentioned that Ukraine may nonetheless have Nazi parts even when the nation’s president is Jewish, claiming that Nazi chief Adolf Hitler had Jewish ancestry ⤵️

🔗: https://t.co/3tUiEDMbLl pic.twitter.com/0geRdwklVn

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 2, 2022

Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the six million Jews killed within the Holocaust, mentioned the Russian minister’s remarks had been “an insult and a severe blow to the victims of the real Nazism”. Speaking on Kan radio, Dayan mentioned Lavrov was spreading “an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory with no basis in fact”.

The identification of certainly one of Hitler’s grandfathers is just not recognized however there was some hypothesis, by no means backed up by any proof, that he might need been a Jew. There was no fast response for remark from the Russian embassy to Israel or from Lavrov in Moscow.

Strained relations

Kyiv condemned Lavrov’s phrases, saying his “heinous remarks” had been offensive to Zelenskyy, to Israel, Ukraine and Jews.

“More broadly, they demonstrate that today’s Russia is full of hatred towards other nations,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba mentioned on Twitter.

FM Lavrov couldn’t assist hiding the deeply-rooted antisemitism of the Russian elites. His heinous remarks are offensive to President @ZelenskyyUa, Ukraine, Israel, and the Jewish folks. More broadly, they reveal that right this moment’s Russia is stuffed with hatred in direction of different nations.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) May 2, 2022

Israeli Foreign Ministry Yair Lapid, whose grandfather died within the Holocaust, mentioned that accusing Jews of being anti-Semites was “the basest level of racism”. He additionally dismissed Lavrov’s assertion that pro-Nazi parts held sway over the Ukrainian authorities and army. “The Ukrainians aren’t Nazis. Only the Nazis were Nazis and only they dealt with the systematic destruction of the Jewish people,” Lapid informed the YNet information web site.

A German authorities spokesperson mentioned the thought Hitler had Jewish heritage was “absurd” propaganda.

Israel has expressed repeated help for Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. But cautious of straining relations with Russia, a powerbroker in neighbouring Syria, it initially prevented direct criticism of Moscow and has not enforced formal sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

However, relations have grown extra strained, with Lapid final month accusing Russia of committing battle crimes in Ukraine.

However, the Ukrainian president has additionally run into flak in Israel by trying to attract analogies between the battle in his nation and World War Two. In an tackle to the Israeli parliament in March, Zelenskyy in contrast the Russian offensive in Ukraine to Nazi Germany’s plan to homicide all Jews inside its attain throughout World War Two.

Yad Vashem referred to as his feedback “irresponsible,” saying they trivialised the historic details of the Holocaust.