Diplomatic spat with Russia over claims of 'whitewashing former Nazi accomplices in Ukraine' by Israeli envoy
'No one has the right to have such heroes,' says Russian foreign ministry spokesperson
The Russian Foreign Ministry invited Israeli Envoy Ronen Kraus on Tuesday to discuss the controversial issue of the 'glorification of Nazi collaborators in Ukraine' during the Second World War.
"Ronen Kraus, Charge d'Affaires of the State of Israel in Moscow, was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry for a conversation. The attention of the Israeli representative was drawn to the public statements of Israeli Ambassador to Kiev Michael Brodsky,” stated the official Russian press release.
Moscow claims the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky was “whitewashing former Nazi accomplices in Ukraine” when discussing Stephan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, two controversial Ukrainian nationalists. Bandera openly supported Nazi Germany during the war against the Soviet Union. While Russians view him as a Nazi supporter, many Ukrainians view Bandera as an anti-Russian “war hero.”
Brodsky admitted that Jerusalem views these figures as problematic, but concluded that “for most Ukrainians, these are heroes who fought for their independence.”
However, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow disagreed with Brodsky’s statement.
“No one has the right to have such heroes,” Zakharova said, adding, “If in Brodsky’s opinion, Kyiv has the right to heroes like that, then it is a problem for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.”
Not surprisingly, Holocaust and Nazi collaboration is a sensitive topic in the Jewish state. Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat rejected Moscow’s charges, stressing that “there is no change in Israel’s policy, which is absolutely opposed to and rejects the glorification of criminals who collaborated with the Nazis in murdering Jews.”
“No party should lecture the State of Israel, Israel’s Foreign Ministry, or its diplomats about the importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust or about the war on historical distortion,” Haiat added.
The Jewish state has struggled to maintain its diplomatic ties with both Russia and Ukraine amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Jerusalem recently summoned the Ukrainian envoy to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, after the Ukrainians accused Israel of an alleged pro-Russian policy.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
