Russia’s foreign ministry will summon Israeli ambassador Simona Halperin over “unacceptable comments” she made in an interview, the TASS news agency cited the ministry as saying on Monday.
Halperin, according to the ministry, misrepresented Russia’s foreign policy stance in the interview with Russia’s Kommersant daily, published on Sunday.
Russia's foreign ministry will summon Israeli ambassador Simona Halperin over "unacceptable comments" she made in an interview, the TASS news agency cited the ministry as saying on Monday.
Halperin, according to the ministry, misrepresented Russia's foreign policy stance in the interview with Russia's Kommersant daily, published on Sunday.
The ministry described her comments as "an extremely unsuccessful start" to her diplomatic posting, which began last December.
In the interview, Halperin criticized Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust, noting that Israel has monuments to the Red Army's fight against Nazism, and that important events are held in Russia by the Moscow government and the Jewish community together to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which coincides with the anniversary of the blockade of Leningrad.
"Yes, many nations suffered heavy losses," Halperin told Kommersant, "the Russian people paid millions and millions of lives to defeat Nazism. And we remember that. But never before in history did the world know such a massive and systematic destruction of people solely on a national basis. This was experienced only by the Jewish people. I will tirelessly repeat this."
Halperin also reiterated, when prompted, Israel's support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion. "Israel has supported and will continue to support the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine," she said.
Asked where Israel took issue with Russia's Middle East policy, Halperin cited Moscow's reluctance to condemn Hamas's October 7 attack, saying that "some time passed before Russia publicly condemned this attack, called it a terrorist attack, and mentioned Hamas."
