Kremlin’s antisemitism may drive Israel away from its current neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov bizarrely claimed on May 2 that Hitler, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was Jewish, and that “the most ardent antisemites are usually Jews.”
82] Hitler was not Jewish. Israel’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador on May 2 to condemn Lavrov’s comments.[83] The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Israel on May 3 of supporting the “neo-Nazi” regime in Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed on May 4 that Israeli mercenaries are fighting alongside the far-right Azov Battalion in Ukraine and that Israel has long ignored Ukrainian neo-Nazism.
[85] The diplomatic spat may put political pressure on Israel to more directly oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Israel has so far attempted to frame itself as a mediator in the conflict. .
At least one pro-Kremlin media outlet amplified experts who refuted the often-debunked claim that Hitler had Jewish ancestry but justified Lavrov’s claims as well-intentioned, likely in an attempt to mend the Russo-Israeli rift.
If that’s a “well intentioned comment” from a supremely capable (almost faultless) diplomat such as Sergei Lavrov I would hate to hear a spiteful one.
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