7 hours ago
image source,EPA
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has come under fire after claiming that Nazi leader Hitler “bleeds Jewish blood”.
Lavro has tried to further defend Russia’s portrayal of Ukraine as a “Nazi”, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself is actually Jewish.
In response to the matter, the Israeli foreign ministry called the Russian ambassador for “clarification” and demanded an apology.
Nazi Germany massacred 6 million Jews during World War II.
Lavrov made the remarks in an interview with Italian TV show Zona Bianca on Sunday (May 1). And just days before Holocaust Remembrance Day, one of Israel’s most solemn observances of the year.
Controversial remarks
Asked why Russia had called its military campaign in Ukraine “denazification”, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was himself a Jew, Lavrov said: “I may be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood. “
“Maybe it could be wrong if I remember correctly, but Hitler was Jewish too, so his (Zelensky’s) arguments are moot. Wise Jews have said that the most zealous anti-Semites are usually the Jews themselves ,”He said.
Lavrov’s remarks sparked outrage in Israeli politics.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said: “This lie is designed to exonerate the oppressors of the Jews by blaming the Jews themselves for the most horrific crimes in history.”
“Currently, no war is a Holocaust or comparable to a Holocaust.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid also angrily tweeted that Lavrov’s words were “unforgivable.”
Lavrov was also condemned by Dajan, the director of the Israel Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Dayan tweeted: “Most of his remarks are absurd, delusional, and dangerous, and should be condemned in any way. Lavrov wants to reverse the truth about the Holocaust: by saying that Hitler was Jewish. A totally unfounded propaganda that turns victims into criminals.”
image source,Archyde.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish.
Zelensky said in a video address: “I have nothing to say … No one has heard any denials or any justifications from Moscow. There is only silence.”
Zelensky added that the silence suggests that Russian leaders either forgot “all the lessons of World War II” or “perhaps they never learned them.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price called Lavrov’s claims “racism at its worst” and a “insidious lie.” He added: “The Kremlin has been proving to the outside world how lower their lower limit can be, and Lavrov’s remarks are another example.”
The BBC’s Jerusalem correspondent, Jon Donnison, said Israel’s backlash against Lavrov’s remarks showed how offensive and inappropriate it was to Israel and Jews around the world.
Israel, with its large Russian population, has at times tried to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in recent months.
But Downison explained that the Israeli government has been criticized for not taking a tough enough stance on Putin. He added that Lavrov’s remarks will test Israel’s relations with Russia, and while offensive to many, they reflect the shared thinking of those who support the Kremlin.
Ukraine’s foreign minister also rebuked Lavrov, calling his remarks evidence of Russia’s “deep-rooted anti-Semitism.”
For decades, unsubstantiated claims that Hitler’s unidentified grandfather was Jewish have been fueled by assertions made by Hitler’s lawyer at the time, Hans Frank. The latter said in a memoir published in 1953 that he was commissioned by Hitler to investigate rumors that he was of Jewish ancestry.
Frank said he found evidence that Hitler’s grandfather was indeed Jewish. While the claim has support among conspiracy theorists, mainstream historians are skeptical.