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(A7) The Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador to Israel in for a dressing down Monday, following controversial comments by Russia’s foreign minister.
In a statement released Monday morning, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said it will summon Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, and condemned Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s recent comments on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Following the grave remarks by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Russian Ambassador to Israel for a clarification meeting with the Deputy Director-General for Eurasian Affairs,” the Foreign Ministry said.
On Sunday, Lavrov compared Ukraine’s Jewish president to Adolf Hitler, and suggested that Hitler had Jewish ancestry.
“The fact that Zelensky is Jewish does not deny the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood,” Lavrov said.
“Zelensky can promote peace by stopping giving illegal orders to his Nazi soldiers.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid excoriated Lavrov in a statement Monday morning, calling his comments Sunday racist and anti-Semitic.
“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.”
Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister, Dr. Nachman Shai (Labor), also castigated Lavrov over his comments, saying in a statement Monday: “No, Mr. Lavrov, Hitler did not have ‘Jewish Blood’, and repeating this abhorrent falsehood puts blame for the worst antisemitic crime in history on Jews. Blaming Jews for crimes against Jews is intrinsically antisemitic. You must retract these comments immediately.”
