Jewish comments ‘unforgivable’
JERUSALEM: Israel yesterday lambasted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for saying on Italian TV Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins, saying it was an ‘‘unforgivable’’ falsehood that debased the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.
Leaders from several Western nations denounced the foreign minister’s comments and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of having forgotten the lessons of World War 2.
In a sign of sharply deteriorating relations with Moscow, the Israeli foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology.
‘‘Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most horrific crimes in history that were committed against them,’’ Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said.
Through an Italian interpreter, Lavrov also said, ‘‘For a long time now, we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest antiSemites are the Jews themselves.’’ — Reuters