Israel is sharpening its tone: Lapid accuses Russia of war crimes
For the first time since the Russian invasion, Israel has directly accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
At a press conference held alongside the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus in Athens, Lapid condemned the Russian forces' work against the background of evidence of a massacre in the town of Bocha.
"The pictures and testimonies are horrible"
Lightning Ravid
05/04/2022
Tuesday, 05 April 2022, 18:30 Updated: 18:37
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Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said today (Tuesday) that the Russian army has committed war crimes in Ukraine, against the background of evidence of a massacre in the town of Bocha.
Lapid made the remarks at a press conference in Athens with the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus.
why is it important
• This is a significant aggravation of Israeli criticism of Russia.
This is the first time that Israel has directly accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Satellite image from Boche where dead civilians can be seen (Photo: Image Processing, New York Times, Maxar Technologies)
What are they saying
"The images and testimonies coming from Ukraine are appalling. Russian forces have committed war crimes against a defenseless civilian population. I strongly condemn these war crimes," Lapid said.
• Lapid added that Russia had invaded without any justification the territory of a smaller and weaker country - Ukraine.
He noted that the world is not silent in the face of the Russian invasion but is uniting to help Ukraine.
• The foreign minister made the remarks shortly after Prime Minister Bennett first addressed the massacre in Bocha.
However Bennett did not directly accuse Russia and did not state that war crimes had been committed.
"We are shocked by the difficult scenes in Bocha. We strongly condemn this. The images are extremely harsh. The suffering of the citizens of Ukraine is enormous and we are doing everything to help," Bennett said.
More on Walla!
Zalansky in speech to UN: Russia has committed the most serious war crimes since World War II
To the full article
Update
The UN Security Council convened today (Tuesday) to discuss evidence of war crimes committed in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zalansky addressing the Security Council has accused Russia of committing "every possible crime" against his country.
Russia, for its part, denies that its troops carried out the massacre and claims that Ukraine "staged" the incident.
In the Russian media, there were even allegations that it was Ukrainian soldiers who murdered the civilians.
Lapid (Photo: Screenshot, GPO)
Behind the Scenes
• A senior Foreign Ministry official stated that it had been decided to intensify Israeli criticism in light of the many additional testimonies that had come in the last day from Bocha and other places in Ukraine from which Russian forces had emerged and to align with growing criticism from Western countries.
"This is the right thing to do, both morally and politically," said the Foreign Ministry official.
Worth mentioning
At the press conference in Greece, Lapid made it clear to the foreign ministers of Greece and Cyprus that he was interested in tightening the commitment to relations with them against the background of a "welcome warming" between Israel and Turkey.
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