Israeli Foreign Minister Condemns Lavrov's Claims Hitler Had Jewish Blood

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2022) Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid expressed on Monday outrage over an "unforgivable" statement made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Hitler had Jewish blood and called such claims "a terrible historical error."

On Sunday, Lavrov told Italian broadcaster Mediaset that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Jewish ancestry did not mean that there were no neo-Nazis in Ukraine or that there was no need for its "denazification." The foreign minister noted that Hitler also had Jewish blood and that, according to the Jewish people, the most ardent anti-Semites are usually Jews. Earlier on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov for a clarification conversation with the deputy director-general for Eurasian affairs. The Russian embassy has not yet commented on the situation.

"Foreign Minister Lavrov's remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of antisemitism," Lapid said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet noted that using the Holocaust tragedy for political purposes was inadmissible.

Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, also issued a statement, condemning Lavrov's words.