Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for his foreign minister's remarks that claimed German dictator Adolf Hitler had "Jewish" origins in an attempt to justify Moscow's war on Ukraine.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he accepted an apology from Moscow's leader over Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statements. The Russian president supposedly made the apology during a phone call on Thursday, where they also discussed the further evacuation of civilians trapped in Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine.
Putin Apologizes for Jewish Hitler Remark
But an account of the call on the Russian state-run news media site RIA Novosti did not mention the apology was made. Lavrov made the Jewish Hitler remark on Sunday that immediately drew fire from the Israeli prime minister, who accused the Russian foreign minister of using the Holocaust as a "battering ram."
When asked by Italian media how Moscow was planning to "denazify" Ukraine, which was led by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, Lavrov said that he believes Hitler had Jewish origins, as per the New York Post.
Israel released a statement saying that Prime Minister Bennett accepted Putin's apology, thanking the Moscow leader for clarifying his attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.
After Lavrov's remarks, a bitter war of words took place between Israel and Russia, which was followed by Russia's ambassador to Israel being summoned for discussions. Bennett called the Russian foreign minister's statements "lies," and his foreign minister, Yair Lapid, described his Russian counterpart's words as "unforgivable and outrageous."
According to CNN, Putin's office earlier issued its own readout of the phone call, which largely aligned on other subjects that the two leaders discussed during Israel's Independence Day. Moscow's account of the call said that the two leaders emphasized the special significance of May 9 for the people of both nations.
Israel's Involvement in the War
Bennett and Putin honored the memory of all the fallen, including the victims of the Holocaust, while expressing their interest in the further development of friendly Israeli-Russian relations. The Israeli prime minister also noted the "decisive contribution of the Red Army to the Victory over Nazism.
The Israeli prime minister also requested that Russia consider allowing the evacuation of the remaining civilians at the Azovstal steel plant. He said that the request was made after an earlier conversation with Zelensky. He also said that Putin committed to setting up a corridor for civilian evacuation.
Lapid, after arguing that Lavrov's words were a "terrible historical error," said Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. He claimed that the lowest level of racism against the Jewish people was to accuse them of antisemitism themselves.
But on Tuesday, Lavrov doubled down on his remarks, accusing Lapid of "anti-historical" remarks about the Holocaust. He said that the statements "largely explain the course of the current Israeli government in supporting the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv. In a statement, the Russian foreign minister said history showed tragic examples of Jewish cooperation with the Nazis.
Israel has set up a field hospital in western Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and provided humanitarian supplies and protective vests and helmets for the Ukrainian military. But so far, it has restrained sending more substantial military aid or imposing sanctions on Moscow, The Guardian reported.
