Israeli authorities are demanding an apology from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after the official made false claims that Adolf Hitler, the infamous German dictator, was Jewish, in a futile attempt to justify Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has continued to struggle to explain its fundamental reason for trying to "denazify" its neighboring European country as its leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish. Russia's most recent attempt is comparing the comedian-turned-war-leader to one of the most loathed people in history.
Was Hitler Jewish?
The remarks are seen as a desperate attempt by Russia to explain its unprovoked war on Ukraine, a sovereign nation that it has partly occupied since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin initially justified his decisions by saying that there was a threat to Ukrainian ultranationalists.
But since then, the Russian leader and many other top Kremlin officials have shifted their narrative, now settling that blames the West for allegedly using Ukraine as a proxy to weaken Russia. Lavrov made his remarks to the Italian television network Zona Bianca. He seems to be trying to revive the original rationale of the Russian government, as per Yahoo News.
Israeli authorities said that the Russian foreign minister's remarks were an "outrageous statement and a terrible historic mistake." During the interview, Lavrov answered a question where he was asked how Moscow planned to denazify Ukraine.
It is believed that the false idea of Hitler being a Jew comes from speculation, which has no evidence to support itself, that he had a grandfather who may have been Jewish. Furthermore, the Russian foreign minister said, "For a long time now we've been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves."
According to CBS News, in a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denounced the comments and said that the use of the Holocaust as a "political tool" should be stopped immediately. He added that such lies are only made to accuse the Jews themselves of the most horrific crimes in history that were committed against them.
Russia-Ukraine War
The head of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, Dani Dayan, also called Lavrov's remarks "false, delusional, and dangerous, and worthy of all condemnation." Furthermore, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid summoned Lavrov to the country over the comments.
Lapid said that Lavrov's remarks were "unforgivable," calling them "scandalous," adding that they were expecting an apology. The Russian foreign minister was also asked whether or not President Putin was planning on using nuclear weapons against Ukraine. The official said that Russian authorities were working to reach a peace accord.
In a statement, Lavrov said that they have proposed to the United States to repeat what Gorbachev and Reagan said in 1987. He said that the acceptance of a declaration confirming a nuclear war would have no winners.
The Russian foreign minister also denied that the Russian president was planning to use the May 9 celebrations to declare a total war against the world. He said that the pace of the war depends on the need to minimize the risks for the civilian population and for the Russian military, The Daily Beast reported.
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