Sharp criticism from Israel: Lavrov outraged again with Nazi comparison

To justify Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Lavrov has again drawn comparisons to National Socialism. Israel’s Foreign Minister Lapid reacted with outrage and spoke of an “unforgivable statement”.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has caused outrage in Israel with a Nazi comparison in relation to the Ukraine war. The government in Jerusalem demanded an apology and called in the Russian ambassador for an interview.

On Sunday evening on the Italian television channel Rete4, Lavrov repeated the Russian justification for war that Nazis were at work in Ukraine. As a counter-argument, they say: “How can there be a nazification if he (editor’s note: the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy) is a Jew? I could be wrong. But Adolf Hitler also had Jewish blood. That doesn’t mean anything. That wise Jewish people say that the most fervent anti-Semites are usually Jews.”

Lapid: “Unforgivable Statement”

Israel’s Foreign Minister Jair Lapid spoke of an “unforgivable, scandalous statement, a terrible historical mistake”. “We expect an apology.” Lapid added: “It wasn’t Jews who killed my grandfather, but Nazis.”

Lapid recommended Lavrov to look in a history book. “The Ukrainians are not Nazis. Only the Nazis were Nazis. Only they carried out the systematic extermination of the Jews.”

“Total Distortion of History”

The director of the Israeli Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, Dani Dayan, called Lavrov’s statements “absurd, delusional, dangerous and despicable”. A statement said: “Lavrov is propagating the reversal of the Holocaust – turning the victims into criminals by making the completely unfounded claim that Hitler was of Jewish descent.”

The designation of Ukrainians in general and President Zelenskyy in particular as Nazis is just as serious. “Among other things, this is a complete distortion of history and an affront to the victims of National Socialism,” the statement said.

Israel is supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russian troops with helmets and bulletproof vests, among other things, but according to official information it has not recently delivered any weapons to the country. Traditionally, the country maintains good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. After the Russian invasion began on February 24, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tried to mediate between Kyiv and Moscow.

Nazi narratives are part of Russian propaganda

National Socialism plays an important role in Russia’s war propaganda in connection with the fighting in Ukraine. In an effort to legitimize the war to Russian citizens, President Vladimir Putin repeatedly portrayed the struggle in Ukraine as a struggle against the Nazis, despite the country having a democratically elected government and a Jewish president whose relatives were killed in the Holocaust .

World War II, in which the Soviet Union lost an estimated 27 million people and helped defeat Nazi Germany, is a lynchpin of Russian national identity. Repeated recourse to the historical narrative depicting Russia as a savior against evil forces has in the past won the Kremlin the approval of many Russian citizens for war.