Israel blasts Russian official who said Hitler had ‘Jewish origins,’ demands apology

Israel is demanding an apology after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday claimed that Adolf Hitler had Jewish roots, calling the remarks “unforgivable and outrageous.”

The comments, made during an interview with Italian television, prompted Israel to summon the Russian ambassador. Lavrov made the remarks when he was asked why Russia feels it needs to “denazify” Ukraine if the country’s own president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is Jewish. Moscow has repeatedly used the claim to justify its invasion of the country. 

“So when they say ‘How can Nazification exist if we’re Jewish?’ In my opinion, Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. For some time we have heard from the Jewish people that the…