When asked how Russia could say it invaded Ukraine to “denazify” the country given President Zelenskyy’s Jewish background; Lavrov incorrectly claimed Adolf Hitler “also had Jewish origins.”

On Monday, Israel hit out at Russia over its foreign minister’s “unforgivable” remarks on Nazism and antisemitism, including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish. In response, Israel summoned Russia’s envoy, claiming that the remarks condemned Jews for their own deaths during the Holocaust.

It was a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries at a time when Israel was attempting to carve out a neutral position between Russia and Ukraine; in order to remain in Russia’s good graces for its Middle East security needs.

Sergey Lavrov, when asked about Russian allegations that it invaded Ukraine to “denazify” the country; remarked that even if several figures, including the country’s president, were Jewish, Ukraine might still contain Nazi components.

“How can Nazification occur if we’re Jewish?” they ask. Hitler, in my opinion, also had Jewish ancestors, so it doesn’t imply anything. “We’ve been hearing from Jewish people for a long time that the strongest antisemites were Jewish,” he claimed, speaking to the broadcaster in Russian with an Italian translation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid branded Lavrov’s speech “unforgivable, disgusting, and a catastrophic historical blunder” in some of his toughest remarks since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“In the Holocaust, the Jews did not murder themselves,” remarked Lapid, the son of a Holocaust survivor. “The lowest degree of anti-Semitism racism is blaming antisemitism on Jews.”

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has been more cautious in his criticism of Russia’s invasion, slammed Lavrov’s remarks as well.

“Use of the Holocaust of the Jewish people as a political point scorer must end immediately,” he stated. “His comments aren’t true, and their content is unacceptably offensive.”