Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar has criticized remarks by his country’s foreign minister, who suggested that some of the worst antisemites were Jewish and that Adolf Hitler had Jewish ancestry, APA reports citing The Times of Israel.
Lazar’s criticism of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s remarks Sunday — he called them “shocking” and said he wished Lavrov would apologize — is unusual in Russia, where another clergy has been supportive of the war in Ukraine and where dissent has largely been made illegal.
Widely viewed as having close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lazar and the organization he leads, the Chabad Lubavitch-affiliated Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, have expressed displeasure with the war while refraining from criticizing the Putin regime directly over it.
“I do not consider myself entitled to give advice to the head of Russian diplomacy — but it would be nice if he apologized to the Jews and simply admitted that he was mistaken,” Lazar wrote in a reply to a request for comment by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“I think it would then be possible to consider the incident settled and turn the page,” Lazar added.
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