Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar has criticised the Kremlin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for his remarks about Adolf Hitler’s ancestry.
Lavrov suggested in an interview that the Nazi leader “had Jewish blood”.
Lazar told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “It would be nice if he (Lavrov) apologised to the Jews and simply admitted his mistake.”
Lavrov made the comments to try to justify Russia’s portrayal of Ukraine as being Nazi-filled – despite the fact its president is Jewish.
Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews during World War Two.
International condemnation of Lavrov’s remarks was swift – with Israel leading calls for Lavrov to say sorry.
But Russia’s foreign ministry defended its minister’s stance – and went further, accusing Israel of making its own “anti-historical statements”.