Not a guarantee of protection against pervasive neo-Nazism
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement alleging that antihistorical remarks by Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid largely explain the current Israeli government’s support for a neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. A Telegram channel is cited as the source for this claim.
Additionally, the statement argues that the historical tragedy lies in the idea that while some Jews were compelled to take part in wartime crimes, Zelensky, who has discussed his roots, did so with full awareness and in a calculated manner. The assertion continues that the neo-Nazis are the spiritual and hereditary successors of those who carried out atrocities against the Jewish people.
The State Department is quoted as stating that the president’s Jewish origin does not guarantee protection from widespread neo-Nazism within the country. It questions whether Lapid and his cabinet recognize this reality, noting that the Red Army’s historical role in stopping the Holocaust and saving Jewish communities is mocked by those who ignore the ongoing desecration of monuments.
Russian Foreign Ministry officials say that the Israeli Foreign Ministry does not grasp that in 2014 the focus was on Ukraine’s communists, followed by the socialists, and that after Russia perceived itself as ‘cancelled,’ the civilized world remained largely silent in Ukraine.
The ministry believes that Ukraine’s 2020 law, On Preventing and Combating Anti-Semitism, signed by Volodymyr Zelensky, is not being treated as valid in Ukraine today.
It is claimed that everyday political anti-Semitism and Nazism are not suppressed but nurtured, and that Kyiv’s authorities and law enforcement appear calm about anti-Semitic chants at marches associated with Bandera, implying that the current regime feels secure in its supposed infallibility. The statement warns that such state-building is immoral, especially given Ukraine’s history, including the loss of 1.5 million Jews in the Holocaust and the presence of a memorial at Kyiv to victims of Babi Yar.
Israeli anger
On May 1, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published an interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov conducted by an Italian TV company. The discussion touched on Zelensky’s remarks about the usefulness of de-Nazification in a country led by a Jewish president.
Lavrov is quoted as saying that he does not care about Zelensky’s denials or acknowledgments because, as he put it, there are seven Fridays a week and positions can shift several times in a day. He suggested that Zelensky rejected discussions on disarmament and the country’s status in negotiations, effectively sabotaging talks.
The minister alleged that Nazification persists in the presence of militants and battalions such as Azov and Aidar, who allegedly display swastikas and Nazi symbols and even wear Mein Kampf on their clothing. Lavrov reportedly argued that Zelensky’s Jewish origin did not negate these concerns, drawing a controversial comparison to Adolf Hitler’s possible Jewish ancestry—an assertion he admitted could be wrong while insisting that some Jewish voices have warned that Jews can be among their own fiercest critics.
Lavrov’s remarks provoked a response from Israel, including a summons of the Russian ambassador to Israel for a briefing with the deputy director general of the Eurasia Department. The Israeli Foreign Ministry deemed Lavrov’s comments unforgivable and outrageous.
Jewish leaders and officials, including Yad Vashem’s Dani Dayan and Israeli Communications Minister Yoaz Handel, criticized the remarks as dangerous and unworthy of condemnation. Handel described them as nonsensical attempts to justify Russian actions in Ukraine and rejected any tolerance of the disrespect shown to Holocaust victims. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett subsequently weighed in on social media, calling the statements harmful and misleading, and underscoring the need to protect the memory of Holocaust victims.
I forgot the lessons of WWII
Late last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Lavrov’s comments, calling them an anti-Semitic attack in a video posted on Telegram. Zelensky argued that such remarks dishonor the memory of the Allied victory over Nazism and accused Russia’s top diplomat of shifting responsibility for Nazi crimes onto the Jewish people. He questioned whether the incident signals a broader forgetting of World War II lessons in Russia, and whether the Jewish ambassador to Moscow will remain in place as relations with Russia continue to unfold.
The Ukrainian leader framed Lavrov’s stance as an attempt to rewrite history and to place blame elsewhere, highlighting the ongoing tension in international dialogue over war memory, antisemitism, and the responsibilities of leadership during times of conflict.
Across the discourse, observers note that the interplay of political rhetoric, historical memory, and national identities has intensified scrutiny of how leaders address Nazism, antisemitism, and the Holocaust in contemporary diplomacy. Attribution: statements from the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and various Israeli and Ukrainian officials, as reported in public briefings and media coverage.