Tel Aviv, Israel (AP)-Israel on Monday criticized Russia for its foreign minister’s “unforgivable” comments on Nazism and anti-Semitism, including claims that Adolf Hitler was a Jew. Israel, which responded by summoning the Russian ambassador, said the statements blamed Jews for their own killings during the Holocaust.
It was a sharp decline in relations between the two countries at a time when Israel was trying to take a cautious stance between Russia and Ukraine and stay in Russia’s place for security needs in the Middle East.
In an interview with an Italian news channel, when asked about Russia’s claims that they invaded Ukraine to “denationalize” the country, Lavrov said that Ukraine may still have Nazi elements, although ‘t some numbers, including the president, they are Jews.
“So when they say,‘ How can there be nationalization if we are Jews? ’” I think Hitler also came from Judaism, so that doesn’t really mean anything. Speaking at the station in Russian, labeled with an Italian translation.
In the most difficult terms since the start of the war in Ukraine, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Lavrov’s statement “an unforgivable, scandalous and horrific mistake in history”.
“Jews didn’t commit suicide during the Holocaust,” said Lapid, the Holocaust survivor. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews of anti-Semitism.
Lapid later said Israel was “making every effort” to establish good relations with Russia. “But there is a limit and this limit has been exceeded at this time. “The Russian government should apologize to us and to the Jews,” he said.
An Israeli official confirmed on Monday that Russia’s ambassador, Anatoly Viktorov, had been summoned to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that Israel had “declared its position” and that the parties had agreed not to specify.
Lavrov’s comments were condemned by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has become increasingly critical of Russia’s aggression.
“His words are not true and their intentions are wrong,” he said. “The use of Jews as a political weapon of the Holocaust must stop immediately.”
Yad Vashem, a member of the Israeli Holocaust Memorial, called the statements “absurd, absurd, dangerous and condemnable.”
“Lavrov is propagating the Holocaust reversal, making criminals the victims based on the propaganda of a completely baseless claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent,” the statement said.
“He also seriously called the Ukrainians in general and President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, in particular, the Nazis.” This, by the way, is a complete distortion of history and an insult to the victims of Nazism. “
A German government spokesman, Stephen Hebstrett, called the Russian government’s efforts “propaganda” “inappropriate” and called them “absurd”.
Nazism stands out in the aims and narrative of the Russian war while fighting in Ukraine. In an effort to legitimize the war for the Russian people, President Vladimir Putin presented the struggle as an antidote to the Nazis in Ukraine, despite the country having a democratically elected government and a Jewish president whose relatives was killed in the Holocaust. .
Lavrov’s statement was also condemned by Ukraine.
“In an attempt to rewrite history, Moscow is only looking for arguments to justify the massacre of Ukrainians,” wrote Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Lavrov’s statement highlighted “the ingrained anti-Semitism of the Russian elite”.
World War II, in which the Soviet Union lost approximately 27 million people and helped defeat Nazi Germany, was a pillar of Russia’s national identity. Through a repeated search for the historical narrative that places Russia as a savior from the forces of evil, he helped the Kremlin rally the Russians to war.
Israel achieved independence after the Holocaust and became a refuge for the world’s Jews. More than 70 years later, the Holocaust remains at the heart of its national ethic and has placed itself at the center of the global effort to remember the Holocaust and fight anti-Semitism. Israel is home to about 165,000 Holocaust survivors, mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, and the country celebrated last week. Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
But these goals sometimes conflict with his other national interests. Russia has a military presence in neighboring Syria and Israel, which conducts frequent attacks on enemy targets in the country, relies on Russia for security coordination to prevent their forces from having a conflict with each other. It forced Israel to partially criticize the war in Ukraine.
Although it sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and expressed support for its citizens, Israel has been moderate in its criticism of Russia. It did not comply with international sanctions against Russia and did not provide military assistance to Ukraine.
This paved the way for Bennett’s attempt to mediate between the parties, an attempt that seems to have stalled as Israel resolves its internal turmoil.
The continued manipulation of its history during the Holocaust and fighting has caused anger in Israel in the past.
Speaking to Israeli lawmakers in March, Zelensky compared Russia’s aggression to Nazi Germany’s aggression and accused Putin of seeking a “final solution” against Ukraine. The confrontation led to an angry condemnation of Yad Vashem, who claimed Zelensky was trivializing the Holocaust.
Associated Press writers Nicole Winfield in Rome and Frank Jordan in Berlin contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
