Russia-Ukraine War

Israel turned a blind eye when Russia spoke of "Nazis" in Ukraine.

Yesterday it exploded in our faces

The Israeli silence in the face of Russian rhetoric only encouraged the Kremlin to exacerbate the accusations against Zalanski and his government, which went as far as Lavrov's antisemitic remarks.

Even now Jerusalem does not want to break the tools against Moscow, but as the war continues - the attempt to walk between the drops becomes more and more difficult

Lightning Ravid

02/05/2022

Monday, 02 May 2022, 16:30

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In the video: Zlanski's speech to Knesset members (Photo: Knesset Channel and Shlomi Gabay)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's antisemitic remarks around the war in Ukraine drew condemnation from Israel, but these came after months of silence from Jerusalem and a lack of response to similar messages coming out of the Kremlin.

In an interview with an Italian television channel, Lavrov compared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky to the leader of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler.

In his remarks, Lavrov noted that the fact that Zalansky was a Jew did not negate the Nazi elements in Ukraine - and wrongly claimed that Hitler also had "Jewish roots";

And even said that the greatest anti-Semites are Jews.

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Putin and Lavrov in the Kremlin, February 2022 (Photo: Reuters)

why is it important:

• Both the previous government and the current government have almost completely refrained from criticizing Russia on almost any issue, citing "strategic considerations" and a desire to preserve military coordination with Russia in Syria.

• The result was an Israeli turning a blind eye to the Kremlin's claims that Ukraine is ruled by Nazis and that Ukrainian President Zalansky, the only Jew to head a democratic state other than Israel, is a Nazi himself.

• The Israeli silence on this issue signaled to the Kremlin that the accusations of Zalansky and his government of Nazism did not bother the Israeli government, which only encouraged the Russians to exacerbate the accusations to the point of antisemitic remarks, as Lavrov did.

Behind the Scenes:

• In October last year, months before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Bennett arrived in Sochi for his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  Bennett then submitted to Putin a proposal from Mazlanski to hold a summit meeting between them in Jerusalem.

• Putin reacted very sharply, rejecting the offer made to him by Bennett.

  An Israeli source and a Ukrainian source said that Putin claimed that for him Zalansky was not a Jew at all, but that he considered him a Nazi.

  Bennett was amazed at the things, but did not respond or reject them.

Israel turned a blind eye to accusations against Ukraine of Nazism.

Bennett and Lapid (Photo: Paul, Mark Israel Salem)

reminder:

• When the Russian military invaded Ukraine, Putin and senior members of his regime declared that the purpose of the operation was "de-Nazification" of Ukraine.

  That is, the overthrow of the so-called Nazi regime in the country, headed by Zalansky.

  Although Israel condemned the invasion, it did not condemn the Russian claim that the Ukrainian government was Nazi.

• Israeli government ministers chose to condemn Zalanski after he compared the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine to the crimes of the Nazis during the Holocaust in his speech in the Knesset.

  Prime Minister Bennett even implicitly criticized Zalansky during his speech at Yad Vashem last week.

• For weeks, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has claimed that he is taking a careful and balanced line towards the war in Ukraine due to the fact that he is a "mediator" between Putin and Zlansky.

  Bennett's mediation initiative has been on hold for many weeks, but he continues to avoid public criticism of Russia.

What they say:

• The Israeli silence towards the Russian claims that the government in Kiev is "Nazi" greatly angered the Ukrainians, but also drew a backlash from many Western countries that expected Israel to make its voice heard on this issue.

• Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Callas addressed this very point in an interview with Walla!

  A few weeks ago, he claimed that Putin was harming the memory of the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust when he spoke of the "removal of Nazism" from Ukraine.

• "There is one point that is very specific to Israel - Putin uses the argument of 'removing Nazism' from Ukraine. He details the suffering of the Jews and I think it deeply undermines the suffering of your people, and you can speak out against it out loud and say it's wrong." , Said Callas.

The only Jew who heads a state outside of Israel.

Zlansky (Photo: Reuters, EYEPRESS via Reuters Connect)

Situation:

• In recent weeks, Israel has slowly begun to intensify its criticism of Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

  Foreign Minister Lapid accused the Russians of committing war crimes in Bocha and elsewhere in the country.

• At the same time, Israel changed its policy regarding assistance to Ukraine and decided after many months to provide helmets and protective vests to Ukraine, so that these would be used by the rescue forces in the country.

• Last week, Israel even sent the head of the Defense Ministry's political-security division, Dror Shalom, to an international conference initiated by the United States to encourage the provision of military aid to Ukraine.

• So far, the Russians have not taken any practical action in response to the change in the Israeli line.

  However, they intensified their criticism of Israel with regard to the recent escalation on the Temple Mount and Israeli policy in the territories in general.

What next:

• Only this morning, after Lavrov's antisemitic statement, did Israel react publicly and sharply to things.

  The Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador, Bennett sharply condemned and Lapid demanded that the Russians apologize.

  But it is not clear whether these things will affect Israel's policy toward the war in Ukraine more broadly.

• Israel does not want to break with Russia, but as time goes on and the war in Ukraine continues, Israel's ability to balance its interests with Moscow and its interests with the United States and Western countries becomes much more difficult.

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Tags

• Ukraine

• Russia

• Sergei Lavrov

• Volodymyr Zlansky