MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized to Israeli Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett over a phone call following Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s remarks that German dictator Adolf Hitler had Jewish roots.
Bennett’s office said Putin had apologized for the incident. The office said in a statement that Bennett had accepted Putin’s apology and thanked him for his attitude towards Jews. Russia’s criticism of Russia comes after Lavrov’s Jewish remarks on Israel’s mediation in Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.
Bennett was critical of Lavrov’s statement that he wanted to end the political exploitation of the Holocaust. However, the Kremlin did not respond to a request for comment on Putin’s apology. In an interview with an Italian channel, Lavrov described Russia’s claim of military action against the Nazis in Ukraine.
Lavrov said he had heard that Hitler had Jewish roots. With this, Israel came on the scene. Naphtali Bennett has accused Russia of blaming Jews for the worst genocide in history.