Jewish Democrats in US House lambast Russia’s Lavrov for ‘blatant antisemitism’

By Jacob Magid

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4 May 2022, 12:29 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

In this handout photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens to the UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, right back to a camera, during their talks in Moscow, Russia, on February 23, 2022. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

A group of 22 Jewish members of the Democratic caucus in the US House of Representatives have issued a statement tearing into Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over his comments earlier this week on Hitler and the Jews.

“The blatant antisemitism in recent comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is appalling but sadly not surprising. Lavrov, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian regime are doing everything they can to divert attention from their unprovoked, unlawful invasion of Ukraine and the failings of their military in the face of a heroic Ukrainian response,” the lawmakers say in a statement

“Defaulting to antisemitic tropes, including blaming the Jews for the Holocaust and using the Holocaust to cover their own war crimes, reflects the gutless depravity of the Russian regime. Lavrov’s remarks on Italian TV were an affront to the memory of the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis, the survivors of the Holocaust, their families, and the entire world Jewish community.”

The statement is signed by Reps. Auchincloss, Bonamici, Cicilline, Deutch, Frankel, Gottheimer, Jacobs, Levin (CA), Levin (MI), Lowenthal, Manning, Nadler, Raskin, Schakowsky, Schiff, Schneider, Schrier, Sherman, Slotkin, Wasserman Schultz, Wild and Yarmuth.