Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo / Getty Images
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo / Getty Images
Russia's foreign minister has sparked outrage by claiming that Adolf Hitler had "Jewish blood".
Sergey Lavrov also suggested that Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a Nazi, despite being Jewish.
Lavrov was trying to justify Moscow's long-standing narrative that one of the objectives of the bloody invasion of its neighbour is to "de-Nazify" the country.
"So what if Zelenskyy is Jewish? The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood," Lavrov said in an interview with Italian television. He added: "Some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews".
The Israeli government called the comments "unforgivable" and summoned the Russian ambassador for talks.
"Foreign minister Lavrov's remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error," said Yair Lapid, the Israeli foreign minister, calling for a Russian apology.
"Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism."
The scathing criticism of the Russian foreign minister was a sharp departure for Israel. Compared to the US and Europe, Israel's criticism of Moscow has been muted. At the start of the conflict it decided not to sign up to a text condemning Russia at the UN Security Council.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on Feb 24. Photo / Getty Images
Israel is reluctant to antagonise Vladimir Putin, in part because it relies on Russian military might to allow its own operations in Syria. Russian air superiority means that Israel can operate against Iranian-backed groups like Hezbollah.
It has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but Israel has not joined international sanctions against Russia or provided military aid to Kiev.
Naftali Bennett, the Israeli prime minister, said he viewed Lavrov's remarks with "the utmost severity", calling them untrue.
"The goal of such lies is to accuse the Jews themselves of the most awful crimes in history, which were perpetrated against them, and thereby absolve Israel's enemies of responsibility.
"As I have already said, no war in our time is like the Holocaust or is comparable to the Holocaust. The use of the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political tool must cease immediately."
Dani Dayan, the president of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, said Lavrov's remarks were "absurd" and "dangerous".
"Lavrov is propagating the inversion of the Holocaust - turning the victims into the criminals on the basis of promoting a completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent. Equally serious is calling the Ukrainians in general, and President Zelenskyy in particular, Nazis.
"This, among other things, is a complete distortion of the history and a serious affront to the victims of Nazism."
For decades, there have been unsubstantiated claims that Adolf Hitler's grandfather may have been Jewish. The claim originates from before World War II and after the war was further stoked by Hans Frank, the governor-general of Poland and a leading Nazi lawyer.
Vladimir Putin greeting Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett in October 2021. File photo / Getty Images
Although the theory gained currency with conspiracy theorists it has been dismissed as untrue by mainstream historians.
Israel's communications minister, Yoaz Handel, described the remarks as "delusional", while deputy foreign minister Ilan Roll said that "a new low for anti-Semitism" had been reached.
Yair Golan, the deputy public security minister, said: "It reflects what the Russian government really is: a violent government that doesn't hesitate to wipe out its rivals at home, invade a foreign country and falsely accuse it of renewing Nazism."
Lavrov said that Zelenskyy had the power to end the war, as long as he "stopped giving criminal orders to his Nazi forces".
He criticised Italy, saying that Moscow is "surprised" at its stance on Ukraine. Like other Western countries, Italy has strongly denounced the invasion and has taken in tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.
"'Italy is in the front rank of those countries that are adopting and promoting anti-Russia sanctions," Lavrov said.
"For us, that was a surprise. We were used to the idea that Italy, thanks to its history, knew how to distinguish between black and white."
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Photo / Getty Images
He said countries like Italy that import Russian gas must now pay in rubles because "they have stolen" Moscow's reserves in dollars and euros with sanctions and banking restrictions.
He claimed that Moscow was not trying to topple Zelenskyy – despite the fact that the Russians sent hit squads to try to kill him in the early days of the war.
"We are not aiming for a change of regime in Kiev - that is a speciality of the Americans. We are not even calling on him to surrender. What we are asking is that he stops his hostility [towards Russia]."
