Moscow escalates: ‘Israeli government backs neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv’

The Russian Foreign Ministry continued its inflammatory rhetoric against Israel, accusing the Tel Aviv government of supporting the neo-Nazis in Ukraine, signaling an escalation of the diplomatic dispute between the two countries, following Sergei Lavrov’s claim that Adolf Hitler had.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid demanded that Moscow apologize for the Russian foreign minister’s comments, citing an “unforgivable and scandalous” report, noting that Lavrov was in fact blaming the Evlovs themselves.

Today, the Russian Foreign Ministry returned to the issue, claiming that Lapid’s comments were “untold” and wanted to explain why “the current Israeli government supports the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”

In particular, the Russian ministry reiterated Lavrov’s assertion that Ukraine was ruled by “neo-Nazis” and that this could not be ruled out by the fact that the Ukrainian president himself was Jewish.

The statement also accused the Ukrainian government of cultivating anti-Semitism in “everyday life and politics”.

In an interview on Italian television, Lavrov was asked how Russia could claim to be “de-Naziizing” Ukraine when Zelensky himself is a Jew. Lavrov replied, “And what if Zelensky is a Jew?” adding that this does not negate the presence of “Nazi elements in Ukraine”.

He went on to say that Hitler was also of Jewish descent, adding that “some of the worst anti-Semites are Jews.” Lavrov’s comments sparked an immediate diplomatic storm with the Israeli government summoning Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov to express his displeasure. Lavrov’s comments were also denounced by the German government, which called them “irrational” propaganda.

Reacting to Lavrov’s remarks, Lapid said: “This is a terrible historical mistake and we expect an apology. Hitler was not of Jewish descent and the Jews did not commit suicide in the Holocaust. The most heinous form of racism against Jews is to accuse the Jews. “Jews for anti-Semitism.”

As Forbes points out, while Israel has expressed its support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, Israeli officials have so far refused to send military aid to Ukraine. It is unclear whether the current diplomatic dispute with Moscow could push Tel Aviv to change its approach and offer weapons to the Ukrainians.

Kyiv has expressed interest in buying Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system to protect its cities from Russian missile strikes, but such an agreement has been rejected by the Israeli government in a bid to avert a crisis with Russia.