Lavrov’s comments came after he was asked how Russia could claim to be “rewarding” Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish.
“When they say ‘What kind of Nazism is this if we are Jews,’ I think Hitler was also Jewish, so it means nothing,” Lavrov told an Italian interpreter, according to Reuters.
According to Reuters, the idea that Hitler may have had Jewish roots stems from a guess – which has not been substantiated – that he had a grandfather who may have been Jewish.
Lavrov also said that “for a long time we have been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” Reuters reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denounced the comments in a statement, saying the use of the Holocaust as a “political tool” should be stopped immediately.
“Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most heinous crimes in history committed against them,” he added.
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told the Israeli news website Ynet that Russia’s ambassador to Israel, Anatoly Viktorov, would be summoned to discuss the statements.
“This is an unforgivable and outrageous statement and a terrible historical mistake and we look forward to an apology,” Lapid said.
Lavrov’s statements also drew criticism from Germany, which called his comments “absurd” propaganda.
Ukraine also criticized his comments, calling them offensive to Israel, Ukraine and the Jewish people.
“More broadly, they prove that today’s Russia is full of hatred towards other nations,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
Undisiable: The Truth to Remember 46:47 More Christopher Brito
Christopher Brito is a social media producer and CBS News columnist focusing on sports and racial and cultural issues.
