After grotesque claim that Hitler had Jewish origins, Russian Foreign Ministry doubles down, accusing Jews of collaborating with Nazis and inviting antisemitic genocidal terrorists to meeting in Moscow

The Russian Foreign Ministry has doubled down on Sergei Lavrov’s grotesque claim that Hitler had Jewish origins by accusing Jews of collaborating with Nazis and inviting antisemitic genocidal terrorists to a meeting in Moscow.

Mr Lavrov was condemned for remarks on the Italian Rete 4 television channel on Sunday. Asked why Russia needed to “de-Nazify” Ukraine – as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mr Lavrov have argued repeatedly in recent months – given that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish, Mr Lavrov answered: “Zelenskyy a Jew? Even Hitler had Jewish origins, the main antisemites are Jews themselves.”

Speaking through an Italian interpreter, Mr Lavrov continued: “For a long time now we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest antisemites are the Jews themselves.”

After a chorus of international condemnation for his remarks – including by the Israeli Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, who observed that portraying Hitler as Jewish and accusing Jews of being the real and worst antisemites was the “basest level of racism” – the Russian Foreign Ministry has doubled down.

In a statement, the Ministry reportedly said: “We have paid attention to the anti-historical statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yair Lapid, which largely explain the decision of the current [Israeli] Government to support the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv. Unfortunately, history knows tragic examples of cooperation between Jews and Nazis.” The Ministry further claimed that Israeli mercenaries were fighting with neo-Nazi Ukrainian militias against invading Russian troops.

In addition, it has been reported that a delegation from the antisemitic genocidal terrorist group, Hamas, has been invited to a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow after a rare phonecall between Mr Lavrov and the Hamas leader.

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