Thursday’s statement said: “The Prime Minister accepted President Putin’s apology for Lavrov’s remarks and thanked him for clarifying the President’s attitude towards the Jewish people and the memory of the Holocaust.”
A bitter war of words broke out between the two countries after Lavrov tried to justify Moscow’s stated goal of “denazifying” Ukraine – a baseless portrayal of the country being run by a Jewish president – by claiming that Adolf Hitler had “Jewish… blood” and that “the most fervent anti-Semites are usually Jews”.
Russia’s ambassador to Israel was then summoned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry for talks. Bennett called the claims “lies” and Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid described them as “unforgivable and outrageous”.
Putin’s office previously issued its own reading of the phone call, which made no mention of an apology or Lavrov’s comment. CNN asked Putin’s spokesman if the Russian president apologized to Bennett.
The ads from Moscow and Jerusalem were broadly consistent with other issues discussed by the two leaders in a phone call marking Israel’s Independence Day.
The Russian report on the call said the leaders emphasized the special significance of May 9 for the people of Russia and Israel, which is celebrated as Victory Day in Russia as a momentous day for the people of Russia and Israel.
The leaders honored the memory of all those who fell, including those who died in the Holocaust, they said, while expressing their interest in the further development of friendly Russian-Israeli relations.
Bennet noted the Red Army’s “decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism”.
Putin and Bennet also discussed the situation in Ukraine, including the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal Steel Plant. According to the Kremlin, Putin said the Russian military is ready to ensure the safe exit of civilians from the plant.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked by Russian state media RIA Novosti on Thursday whether Putin’s call to Bennett touched on Israel’s possible arms sales to Ukraine and Lavrov’s comments.
“The topics of the conversation were listed in the statement,” Peskov told RIA Novosti.