Putin apologises to Israel for Moscow’s controversial Nazism comments

According to a statement released this Thursday, May 5, by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office, Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologised for controversial remarks about the Holocaust that had been made recently by Moscow.

It revealed that Bennett – who has been touted as a possible mediator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – accepted Putin’s apology after the leaders of the two nations had spoken by telephone on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, had been interviewed on Italian television. During his appearance, Ladrov made comments about Adolf Hitler having “Jewish blood”.

Even though he is fully aware that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is himself Jewish, the Russian minister argued that neo-Nazism could still be present in Ukraine. His remarks were labelled as “unforgivable and outrageous, as well as a terrible historical error”, by Yair Lapid, Israel’s Foreign Minister.

In a statement, Bennett’s office said, “The Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks, and thanked him for clarifying the President’s attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust”.

Putin and Bennett both emphasised how important it was to mark May 9 – the day the Nazis were defeated in World War 2 – while also discussing the ‘historical memory’ of the Holocaust, said Moscow, as reported by euronews.com.