Israel reacted harshly to 72-year-old Sergey Lavrov’s May 1 comments around de-Nazification, the foolish motive cited by Russia for invading Ukraine. When it comes to Nazis, there’s no one hates them more than Russia after losing 27 million soldiers and civilians in WW II. While much of WW II Nazi atrocities center on the systematic extermination of European Jews estimated at around 6 million, Israel should remember that no one lost more citizens in WW II than Russia. So when Russia talks about de-Nazification or that Hitler might have been part Jewish or even more egregious that Jews themselves are more anti-Semitic, it’s all hogwash Israel should ignore. Lavrov certainly demonstrates his blissful ignorance over things anti-Semitic, since Russia’s Cossacks drove many Jews from Russia in the years before the Holocaust. Israel would be best served by not overreacting to Lavrov’s remarks.
With Ukraine’s President Volodynyr Zelensky Jewish, it’s hard to make the case the Ukraine’s regime are neo-Nazis. But when it comes to Russia, conspiracies fly around like flying saucers, realizing that the most anti-Semitic fraud coming out of Czarist Russia was pure fabrication in the 1902 book titled, “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion,” fabricating an international Jewish conspiracy that harbored a secret society aimed at taking over the world. So when it comes to anti-Semitism and the spread of baseless conspiracy theories, Russia has been top of the list for over 120 years. Lavrov’s remarks reflect the institutional anti-Semitism and racism that’s part of living under the Czar then the Soviet Union, where nothing really changes in terms of a feudal society where only rule by oligarchy works, just as it does today, where the Russian people have little say in their governance or futures.
Focusing on Lavrov’s misguided remarks divert attention away from the real issues that drive the Ukraine War. Lavrov can make incendiary comments about Jews or neo-Nazis but the real issue involves 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perception that NATO has encroached on the Russian Federation, something echoed this week by Pope Francis. Pope Francis said the Ukraine war was probably caused by NATO, overstepping its boundaries with the Russian Federation. “When they say ‘What sort of Nazification is this if we are Jews,’ well I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing,” Lavrov said, spewing his ignorant views conditioned by years of anti-Semitic tropes circulating in Russian society. Hitler relied heavily on the Russian-based “Protocos” to construct his “Mein Kampf,” becoming a best selling book in Germany in the 1930s.
Israeli Foreign Minister Lair Lapid reacted harshly to Lavrov’s anti-Semitic tropes. “For a long time now we’ve been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves,” Lavrov said, irking U.S. and Israeli politicians. Lavrov’s remarks deserve no explanation other that he’s a product of Russia’s poor Internet accesss where, among other things, ordinary people can’t test the veracity of long held misconceptions ingrained in Russian society that you can’t blame Lavrov, a product of Russia’s closed system, for spouting ignorant comments. When it comes to Ukraine, the Jewish question obscures the real issues that drive the Ukraine War, involving the Kremlin’s concerns about NATO encroachment. When Zelensky kept asking NATO for membership, it threatened the Kremlin, telling Putin that Ukraine had become a puppet U.S. state.
When it comes to getting both warring factions to Istanbul for a ceasefire, Lavrov’s anti-Semitic tropes do nothing to get both parties to the peace table. No one other that Lavrov believes his sweeping statements about Jews, Nazis or the history of anti-Semitism. “Foreign Minister Lavrov’s remarks are both an unforgivable and outrageous statement as well as a terrible historical error. Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust,” Lapid said on Twitter. “The lowest level of racism and against Jews is to accuse Jews themselves of anti-Semitism,” overreacting to Lavrov’s comments. Ukrainians decimated by the war with Russia aren’t concerned about diversions about Jewish history, they want the war to stop at the earliest possible time. Getting the warring factions to Istanbul is more important than going into the minutia of Lavrov’s ignorant, offensive remarks.
Israel and Russia have developed a working relationship especially on containing Iranian aggression toward the Jewish State. So, Lapid should think twice of overreacting to some slips-of-the-tongue by the Russian Foreign Minister. He doesn’t speak for Putin when it comes to Jews and so-called de-Nazification in Ukraine. Lavrov would help Russia’s cause if he presented the real problems driving the Ukraine War, not about a mythical Nazis still alive in Kiev or anywhere else. Russia, as Pope Francis pointed out, has a problem with the U.S. and NATO arming to the teeth a neighboring country that threatens the Russian Federation. Watching Ukraine flooded with U.S. and NATO lethal weapons has nothing to do with Lavrov’s misguided opinions about Nazis or Jews. If the world wants to help Ukraine and Russia solve their conflict, they need to look at what threats pushed Putin to invade Feb. 24.
