Sergei Lavrov's allegation that Hitler was half-Jewish has enraged Israel.

Israel's foreign minister has slammed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's statements that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler "had Jewish blood" as "unforgivable."

Even though is Jewish, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made the remarks in an attempt to legitimize Russia's characterization of Ukraine as "Nazi."

The Russian envoy was summoned by Israel's foreign ministry for "clarification" and an apology.

During World War II, Nazi Germany slaughtered six million Jews in the Holocaust.

Mr. Lavrov made the statements in an interview with Zona Bianca, an Italian television program, on Sunday, just days after Israel commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day, one of the most serious days on the Israeli calendar.

Since questioned how Russia can claim to be working to "de-Nazify" Ukraine when President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish, Mr. Lavrov responded, "So what if Zelensky is Jewish."

"The presence of Nazi elements in Ukraine is unaffected by this reality. "Some of the fiercest anti-Semites are Jews," he adds, "and I believe Hitler had Jewish blood."

Mr. Lavrov's statement enraged Israel's foreign minister, who accused him of anti-Semitism.

Mr. Lavrov was also chastised by Dani Dayan, the director of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust monument.

He tweeted, "The majority of his views are stupid, foolish, dangerous, and deserving of any censure." "Lavrov deals with the Holocaust's reversal: turning the victims into criminals, based on the promotion of the entirely false allegation that Hitler was of Jewish heritage."

According to Jon Donnison of the BBC in Jerusalem, the outpouring of support underlines how highly upsetting and terrible Mr. Lavrov's remarks will be to Jews in Israel and around the world. Israel, which has a big Russian community, has attempted to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine on several occasions in recent months.

However, he claims that the Israeli government has been chastised for not being severe enough on President Putin. Mr. Lavrov's remarks will put Israel's relations with Russia to the test, and while they may offend some, they reflect a common narrative among Kremlin loyalists, according to our correspondent.

For decades, there have been unconfirmed accusations that Hitler's unidentified paternal grandfather was Jewish, fueled by Hitler's lawyer Hans Frank's assertion.

Frank said in his memoir, released in 1953, that Hitler had ordered him to look into rumors that he had Jewish lineage. Though the theory, which has gained traction among conspiracy theorists, has been disregarded by orthodox historians, Frank claims to have discovered evidence suggesting Hitler's grandpa was Jewish.

Russia has stated repeatedly that one of its goals in the war against Ukraine is to "de-Nazify" the country, implying that the Ukrainian government is immersed in Nazi ideology.

Israel has been at the forefront of international mediation attempts to try to stop the conflict, as it has close ties with both Ukraine and Russia.