Jerusalem, undefined: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Thursday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin had apologized for the statement made by Moscow’s top diplomat, Sergei Lavrov, who claimed Adolf Hitler might have “Jewish blood”.The comment triggered anger in a Jewish country.
“Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s statement and thanked him for clarifying his attitude towards the Jews and commemorated Holocaust,” Bennett Office said in a statement.
The Kremlin summary of Bennett-Putin’s call, which came when Israel marked 74 years since the creation of a Jewish state, did not mention Putin’s apology.However, he noted that the leaders discussed the “historic memory” of Holocaust.
In an interview with Italian media outlets released on Sunday, Lavrov claimed that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky “put forward an argument about nazism as they could have if he himself was a Jew”.Lavrov, according to a transcript posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry website, then added: “I can be wrong, but Hitler also has Jewish blood”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called the comment “Unforgivable and outrageous statements and terrible historical errors.”Bennett condemned the comment as a “lie” which he said effectively “accusing the Jewish people of the most terrible crime in history”, which was carried out against themselves.
The Russian Ambassador to Israel was called to “clarify” the comment.
Israel has been trying to step on a smooth line since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, with Bennett emphasizing the close relationship between Israel with Moscow and Kyiv.Bennett specifically tried to preserve Russian cooperation with Israeli attacks in Syria, where Russian troops were on the ground.
Israel has so far rejected Ukraine’s request for military support, instead of supplying bullet vests and helmets for medical workers, as well as Israeli Field Hospital.Bennett has tried to mediate in conflict and includes among a handful of world leaders to meet with Putin since the invasion, traveling to Moscow in early March.
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