JERUSALEM, Israel – Russia on Tuesday accused Israel of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine and defended anti-Semitic comments made by its foreign minister, signaling a further breakdown in the relationship between Jerusalem and Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came under fire from Israel and Western powers this week after he claimed Hitler had Jewish ancestry and that the biggest anti-Semites are Jews. He made the comments while attempting to explain how Russia could be “denazifying” Ukraine when its president – Volodymyr Zelensky – is Jewish.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Lavrov’s remarks “unforgivable” a “terrible historical error,” and demanded an apology from Moscow.
Russia doubled down on Tuesday and accused Lapid of “anti-historical statements” that “largely explain why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”
Russia repeated its claim that Zelensky’s Jewishness doesn’t preclude him from collaborating with Nazis.
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The Russian Foreign Ministry said that while “some Jews were forced to participate in crimes” during the Holocaust, Zelensky “does this quite consciously and quite voluntarily.” Moscow also claimed that Anti-Semitism is being “nurtured” in Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine has complicated Israel’s previously warm relationship with Russia. Israel collaborates with Russia on airstrikes against Iranian targets in neighboring Syria and doesn’t want to jeopardize that relationship. When the war began, Israel avoided direct condemnation of Russia and has refused to sanction Moscow, while also expressing support for Ukraine.
However, Lapid explicitly accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine last month after reports emerged on atrocities there. Israel also recently decided to supply defensive military aid to Kyiv, which Moscow denounced.
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