Russia Doubles Down, Says Israel 'Supports neo-Nazi Regime in Ukraine'

Authored by haaretz.com and submitted by Scipio555
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Russia's foreign ministry accused Israel on Tuesday of supporting neo-Nazis in Ukraine, further escalating a row which began when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins.

Israel lambasted Lavrov on Monday, saying his claim ā€“ made when talking about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who is Jewish ā€“ was an "unforgivable" falsehood that debased the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.

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>> With Nasty Outing and 'Hitler' Comments, Russia and Israel Are on a Collision Course

Leaders from several Western nations denounced Lavrov's comments and Zelenskyy accused Russia of having forgotten the lessons of World War Two.

The Russian ministry said in a statement that Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's comments were "anti-historical" and "explaining to a large extent why the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv".

Moscow reiterated Lavrov's point that Zelenskyy's Jewish origins did not preclude Ukraine from being run by neo-Nazis.

"Antisemitism in everyday life and in politics is not stopped and is on the contrary nurtured (in Ukraine)," it said in a statement.

Israel's Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz reacted to the Russian foreign ministry's statement shortly after, saying "there is no neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. Zelenskyy is not a Nazi."

Horowitz slammed what he called Russia's "propaganda" that draws comparisons between its invasion of Ukraine and the Soviet Union's war against Nazi Germany.

"And yes, Israel supports the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in the face of a brutal Russian invasion," Horowitz concluded.

Lavrov made the Hitler assertion on Italian television on Sunday when he was asked why Russia said it needed to "denazify" Ukraine if the country's own president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was himself Jewish.

Israel has expressed support for Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. But wary of damaging relations with Russia, a power broker in neighboring Syria, it initially avoided direct criticism of Moscow and has not enforced formal sanctions on Russian oligarchs.

However, ties have grown more strained, with Lapid last month accusing Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.

OtherKrab on May 3rd, 2022 at 09:06 UTC »

Fiction has nothing on the Russian government.

Blackthorne75 on May 3rd, 2022 at 08:50 UTC »

Well, if Russia's trying to become Pariah State of The World, it's doing it right...

maximumgrump on May 3rd, 2022 at 08:50 UTC »

Apparently the entire Russian government is spiralling into madness. Or their own propaganda. Or both.