The diplomatic scandal that erupted after the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the alleged Jewish origin of Adolf Hitler is gaining momentum. The minister’s interview outraged the Israeli authorities, who called his remarks unforgivable and absurd. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing Israel of supporting the “neo-Nazi regime” in Kyiv and alleging that some Jews helped carry out the Holocaust.

On the morning of March 3, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a statement “On Anti-Semitism” on its Telegram channel. It begins with these words: “We paid attention to the anti-historical statements of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, which largely explain the course of the current Israeli government to support the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.”

Yair Lapid on Monday March 2 commented on Sergei Lavrov’s words about the anti-Semitism of some Jews: ” The statements of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov are not only inexcusable and outrageous – they are also a terrible historical mistake. The Jews did not kill themselves during the Holocaust. Accusing the Jews themselves of anti-Semitism is blatant level of racism against Jews.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry once again decided to appeal to the argument about the absurdity of allegations of “Nazification of Ukraine” (the fight against the latter was one of the declared goals of the “military special operation” in Ukraine), given that President Vladimir Zelensky is Jewish. It was after Sergey Lavrov was reminded of this by a Mediaset journalist that the Russian minister started talking about the anti-Semitism of the Jews themselves.

“The argument is not only untenable, but also crafty,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Unfortunately, history knows tragic examples of cooperation between Jews and the Nazis.”

The Foreign Ministry, however, admits that Jewish complicity with the Nazis was a “marginal phenomenon,” but insists that this topic is not tabooed and “is the subject of research.”

As an example, a link is given to an article in the Israeli publication Haaretz with the following beginning: “Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says that Jews were among those who helped carry out the Holocaust, along with Poles, Russians, Ukrainians and Germans. Israeli historians say that this is part campaign to blur the lines between killers and their victims.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry does not stop there. “If during the Second World War some Jews were forced to participate in crimes, then Zelensky, who speculates on his roots, does this quite consciously and quite voluntarily,” the statement on the Telegram channel says. According to the department, the President of Ukraine hides behind his origin, and also covers with it “natural neo-Nazis, spiritual and blood heirs of the executioners of his people.”

In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the Israeli authorities of not noticing “terry anti-Semitism” in Ukraine.

The fact that Russia in early March attacked the Kyiv TV tower, which is located in the vicinity of Babi Yar, where the Nazis during the Second World War carried out mass executions of civilians, mainly Jews, was not mentioned by the Foreign Ministry. That shelling provoked protests from many organizations, including the Yad Vashem Museum, a memorial complex for the history of the Holocaust, which is located in Jerusalem.

About the origin of Adolf Hitler, which Sergey Lavrov spoke about in an interview with Italian journalists, there is not a word in the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry either.

The Israeli authorities have not yet commented on this statement. But the Israeli press writes a lot about Lavrov’s interview on Tuesday. In particular, the same Haaretz, to which the Russian Foreign Ministry refers in its statement, emphasizes that Lavrov’s “grotesque statements” about Hitler, in a desperate attempt to justify Russian aggression, kindle anti-Semitic fire in the world. The newspaper quotes comments from the American Jewish Committee, which says: “We have repeatedly spoken about the need for denazification – in Moscow, not in Kyiv.”

A diplomatic row between Russia and Israel flared up after Sergey Lavrov’s words about Adolf Hitler’s possible Jewish origin and that “the most ardent anti-Semites, as a rule, are Jews.”

The Israeli authorities reacted sharply to this. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that Lavrov’s words “are untrue and unacceptable in essence”: “The purpose of such a lie is to try to accuse the Jews of committing the most terrible crimes against the Jews themselves and to free the persecutors of our people from responsibility.”

Because of Lavrov’s comment, the Israeli Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov for an “explanatory conversation.” Israeli Minister of Communications Yoaz Hendel called Larov’s words “inadequate”: “And just for historical accuracy: Hitler did not have Jewish blood and what is happening in Ukraine is outrageous.”

Diaspora Minister Nahman Shai urged Lavrov to immediately retract his words. “Hitler had no Jewish blood, the repetition of this heinous lie places the blame for the worst anti-Semitic crime in history on the Jews.”

As the BBC explained in detail the day before, theories that Adolf Hitler could have had a Jewish origin have been discussed for several decades, but there is no reliable historical evidence for this.

Even before the scandal, leading historians and major Holocaust memorials condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling Moscow’s rhetoric about the need to “denazify” the country an insult to the memory of Nazi victims and fighters, including Red Army soldiers.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis and their accomplices killed about 6 million Jews in the territories under their control.

Leading Israeli newspapers predict that relations between Moscow and Jerusalem will become cooler after Lavrov’s remarks. Thus, the Jerusalem Post writes that Israel, which previously tried to remain neutral in the war in Ukraine, will no longer be able to do this.

While it is in Israel’s interest not to openly oppose Vladimir Putin, it is also equally interested in standing firm on the side of the democratic West and the free world in opposing Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the war, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet offered his services to Moscow and Kyiv as an intermediary in resolving the military conflict. The Ukrainian authorities called Israel one of the potential security guarantors of Ukraine. The signing of such guarantees is one of the topics at the Russian-Ukrainian talks.

As BBC correspondent in Jerusalem John Donnison noted the day before, the Israeli government has been repeatedly criticized for not being tough enough on Vladimir Putin. Sergey Lavrov’s statements, in his opinion, can become a kind of strength test for relations between Israel and Russia.