Putin apologises to Israel for Lavrov's anti-Semitic remarks
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised to Israel for anti-Semitic remarks by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who said that "Hitler had Jewish blood". The apology came during a phone call between Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett where they also discussed the current situation in Ukraine. "The prime minister accepted President Putin's apology for Lavrov's comments and thanked him for clarifying the president's views on the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust," Bennett's office said.
However, the Kremlin's statement following the conversation makes no mention of such an apology, noting only that the leaders discussed "historical memory, the Holocaust and the situation in Ukraine". "The leaders honoured the memory of all the fallen, including the victims of the Holocaust, while expressing their interest in further development of friendly Russian-Israeli relations," the Moscow note adds.
Aiming to maintain ties with Jerusalem, Putin also sent a message to President Isaac Herzog on the occasion of Israel's Independence Day. "I am confident that Russian-Israeli relations based on the principles of friendship and mutual respect will continue to develop for the benefit of our peoples and for the strengthening of peace and security in the Middle East," the Russian leader said, according to Jerusalem. Herzog also demanded an apology following Lavrov's remarks, accusing him of spreading "lies that smack of anti-Semitism".
Despite this recent rapprochement between Russia and Israel, as the war in Ukraine has unfolded, the rift between the two countries has deepened. Jerusalem, which had tried to adopt a neutral position since the Russian invasion began, has increasingly distanced itself from Moscow due, on the one hand, to the massacres committed by Russian troops around Kiev and, on the other, to Lavrov's controversial statements.
Firstly, the head of Russian diplomacy claimed in an interview on a programme on the Italian channel Mediaset that "Hitler had Jewish blood". Lavrov also stated that the "most anti-Semitic people are usually Jews". Israel condemned Lavrov's remarks and the country's political authorities demanded an immediate apology. However, the Russian diplomat, far from apologising, fuelled the controversy and accused Jerusalem of supporting the "neo-Nazi regime" in Kiev. Russia considers the current Ukrainian government to be "neo-Nazi" and on this basis justifies its invasion of the country.
"We note the statement of Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, which contradicts history and explains to a large extent the policy of the current Israeli government to support the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev," the ministry said in a statement. "History includes tragic examples of Jews who collaborated with the Nazis," the note said, reiterating Lavrov's words on the Italian channel.
Israelis fighting against the #Russian invader in #Ukraine.
✊????? pic.twitter.com/4RulvK2vXs— Canadian Ukrainian Volunteer ????✊? (@CanadianUkrain1) April 24, 2022
"I'm going to say something that Israeli politicians certainly don't want to hear, but which might interest them. In Ukraine, Israeli mercenaries are alongside the Azov fighters," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later said during an interview with Sputnik radio.
Zakharova is referring to the Azov Battalion, a military unit within the Ukrainian National Guard considered by many to be a neo-Nazi militia. This military group has become a key point in Russian propaganda justifying and supporting the invasion. While the Azov Battalion has been accused of war crimes and carrying Nazi symbols, the group does not have the influence it is believed to have. The NGO Counter Extremism Project notes that, in the 2019 elections, Azov's political wing only secured 2.15% of the vote, which left Andriy Biletsky, leader of the far-right National Corps political party, out of parliament.
Zakharova's accusations are based on Israeli volunteers who have joined the Ukrainian armed forces since the Russian invasion began. Some Israeli media outlets such as The Times of Israel estimate that there are around 100 fighters, although there are no exact figures. On the other hand, Israel has also on several occasions been singled out as one of the countries responsible for arming and training Azov. As The Jerusalem Post's Michael Starr reported in mid-April, a type of weapon developed jointly by Israel, Singapore and Germany was seen in the hands of Azov fighters.
‼️Полк «Азов» продовжує знищувати ворожу техніку pic.twitter.com/1B2RvgKNXE
— АЗОВ (@Polk_Azov) April 19, 2022
Amid tensions between Israel and Russia, a Hamas delegation travelled to Moscow for talks on "Israeli attacks in Jerusalem, their dangerous repercussions and violations in the West Bank and Gaza", reports Donia Al-Watan. The Hamas delegation was led by the deputy head of the group's political bureau, Moussa Abu Marzouk, who was accompanied by Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran, as well as the movement's representative in Moscow. Hamas leaders met with Russian Foreign Ministry officials, including Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
Ties between Hamas and Moscow were forged in 2006, following the Palestinian group's victory in that year's parliamentary elections. Then, the former leader of the movement's political bureau, Khaled Meshaal, met with Lavrov in Moscow, where he demanded Israel's complete withdrawal from all 'Palestinian territories occupied in 1967', Al Arabiya reported.
More recently, in 2020, Russia rejected the 'deal of the century', a peace plan proposed by former US president Donald Trump for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hamas welcomed Moscow's stance, expressing its "interest in the relationship with Russia and its development in all fields", according to Al Jazeera.
Hamas representatives last visited Moscow in December 2021, coinciding with tensions between Russia and NATO and the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border. Two months later, the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, a war in which Hamas has "no interest in taking sides", as Hani Habib, a political analyst at the Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam in the Gaza Strip, tells Al-Monitor. "Hamas's silence on the war against Ukraine is part of its policy of non-interference in the affairs of states," he adds.
Meanwhile, Iyad al-Qarra, a political researcher close to Hamas, told Al-Monitor that "the Russian war against Ukraine is an international problem and Hamas does not have to take a position on the conflict". "The movement is exercising caution and keeping quiet about the war to avoid further isolation, especially after the UK designated it as a terrorist group on Nov. 26, 2021, and Australia on March 3," he explained.
The Palestinian group is trying to stay out of the conflict while seeking to maintain its relations with Russia. Indeed, a few days after the invasion began, the Palestinian group issued a statement denying alleged statements by Khaled Meshaal, the movement's head abroad, in which he called on Putin to "stop his invasion and the killing of civilians". "We confirm that the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) abroad, leader Khaled Meshaal, did not make any statement to any media regarding the Russian-Ukrainian crisis," Hamas stressed in the note.
"The war between Russia and Ukraine is a struggle between the big players, Russia, the United States and Western countries, with the aim of redrawing the geopolitical map in the world," Hamas leader and Legislative Council deputy Yahya Moussa was quoted as saying by Al Monitor. "Hamas is out of this game," he added. However, Moussa did condemn the West's "double standards". "While Hamas is designated as a terrorist group, the West is financially, politically and militarily supporting the Ukrainian popular resistance," he stressed.
