Israel fury at Vlad ally’s ‘Hitler was Jewish’ jibe

ISRAEL lashed out at Russia last night after Moscow’s foreign minister claimed Adolf Hitler ‘had Jewish blood’.

Sergei Lavrov made the remark when asked to justify Russia’s claim its invasion of Ukraine was intended to ‘de-Nazify’ the country, given president Volodymyr Zelensky’s Jewish heritage.

Mr Lavrov, known for his disdain of the West, said: ‘So what if Zelensky is Jewish. The fact does not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine. I believe Hitler also had Jewish blood. Some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews.’

Israel last night demanded an apology and summoned the Russian ambassador to explain the remarks. Mr Lavrov’s opposite number, Yair Lapid, called his words ‘an unforgivable and scandalous comment’.

‘The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust,’ he added. ‘The lowest form of racism against Jews is blaming the Jews themselves for anti-Semitism.’

An adviser to Mr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Mr Lavrov’s remarks were ‘further evidence Russia is the successor of Nazi ideology’.