As Sergei Lavrov asserted on Italian television on Sunday, when he was asked why Russia needs to "Denazify" Ukraine if Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky is himself a Jewish.
While speaking to Rete 4 channel, he said that "Well, I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing." He added that "for a long time now, we've been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti- sentiments are the Jews themselves."
This has sparked controversy; many leaders from western countries have denounced the foreign minister's comments, while the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has said that Russia has forgotten lessons from WWII.
After this comment, the Israeli foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador and demanded an apology. Israel is quite unhappy with this statement and said that claiming Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins is an "unforgivable" falsehood that debased the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, "Such lies are intended to accuse the Jews themselves of the most horrific crimes in history against them. The use of holocaust of the Jewish people for political purposes must stop immediately."