President apologizes for minister

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized for the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Bennett thanked the Russian president for clarifying attitudes towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust. Putin’s press service previously reported on the telephone conversation. The head of the Russian Federation congratulated Bennett and the people of Israel on Independence Day. The parties discussed mutual interest in developing friendly relations and maintaining useful contacts between the leadership of Israel and Russia.

They exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine, and also touched upon the issue of the evacuation of civilians from the Mariupol metallurgical plant Azovstal. “The Russian military remains ready to ensure the safe exit of civilians. As for the militants remaining at Azovstal, the Kyiv authorities should give them an order to lay down their arms,” ​​the Kremlin said.

A special topic in the conversation between the leaders of the two countries was the date of May 9, which is of particular importance for the peoples of both Russia and Israel, “carefully preserving the historical truth about the events of those years and honoring the memory of all the fallen, including the victims of the Holocaust.” The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement, quoting RIA News:

“In addition, they (Putin and Bennett) discussed the statements of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. The Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s words and thanked him for clarifying the President’s attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.”

Recall the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the statement of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about Jews and Zelensky. Lavrov classified some Jews as anti-Semites. Yair Lapid, Israeli Foreign Minister, called his words inexcusable and outrageous. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry allowed himself words that outraged Israel in an interview with the Italian television company Mediaset, in response to the question of how he can explain the accusations of Nazism of the country with a Jewish president. Lavrov’s answer sounded like he writes “News”So:

“I could be wrong, but Adolf Hitler also had Jewish blood. It means absolutely nothing. The wise Jewish people say that the most ardent anti-Semites, as a rule, are Jews. “There are black sheep in the family,” as they say in our country.

Tel Aviv was dissatisfied with the statements of the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry that the leader of the Third Reich “was partly a Jew” and that “Jews killed Jews.” The Prime Minister of Israel, commenting on the words of the Russian Foreign Minister, declared the inadmissibility of using the tragedy of the Holocaust for political purposes:

“The Jews did not destroy themselves during the Holocaust. Blaming Jews for anti-Semitism is a blatant level of racism against Jews.”

Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov was summoned for an explanatory conversation at the Foreign Ministry of the Jewish state. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said he wants an apology from the Russian side for the statement.

The statements of the Russian Foreign Minister are insulting for the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as for Israel and the entire Jewish people, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.

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