Russia-Ukraine War LIVE Updates Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while addressing Israel's Parliament on the Russian invasion, drew comparisons between the Russian offensive and the "final solution" - the plan by Nazi Germany to exterminate Jews. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy said that he's "ready for negotiations" with Russian President Vladimir Putin but warned that if they fail "that would mean that this is a third World War." Meanwhile, the United Nations said on Sunday that as many as ten million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine due to Russia's "devastating" war.
JERUSALEM — Ukraine’s president on Sunday called on Israel to take a stronger stand against Russia, delivering an emotional appeal that compared Russia’s invasion of his country to the actions of Nazi Germany
In a speech to Israeli lawmakers, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it was time for Israel, which has emerged as a key mediator between Ukraine and Russia, to finally take sides. He said Israel should follow its Western allies by imposing sanctions and providing arms to Ukraine
One can ask for a long time why we can’t accept weapons from you or why Israel didn’t impose sanctions against Russia, why you are not putting pressure on Russian business, he said. It is your choice, dear brothers and sisters
Zelenskyy, who has carefully catered a series of similar parliamentary speeches to his audiences, made frequent references to the Holocaust as he tried to rally support. The comparisons drew an angry condemnation from Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, which said Zelenskyy was trivializing the Holocaust
Zelenskyy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to carry out a “final solution” against Ukraine -- using the Nazi term for its planned genocide of 6 million Jews during World War II. Zelenskyy, who himself is Jewish, also noted that a Russian missile slammed into Babi Yar -- the spot of a notorious Nazi massacre in 1941 that now hosts Ukraine’s main Holocaust memorial
“The people of Israel, you saw how Russian rockets hit Babi Yar. You know what this place means, where the victims of the Holocaust are buried,” he said
The use of such sensitive language was a clear attempt by Zelenskyy to connect with his audience. Israel was founded in 1948 as a refugee for Jews in the wake of the Holocaust. The country is home to tens of thousands of elderly survivors, and many of its leaders are children of survivors
Putin has also sought to paint his enemies in Ukraine as neo-Nazis as he tries to legitimize his war in Ukraine. But historians, noting that Ukraine is a democracy led by a Jewish president, have condemned his use of such terminology as disinformation and a cynical ploy to further the Russian leader’s aims
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, whose late father was a Holocaust survivor, thanked Zelenskyy for the speech
“We will continue to assist the Ukrainian people as much as we can, and we will never turn our backs of people who know the horrors of war,” Lap ID said
But Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust memorial, which had previously condemned Putin’s Nazi references, also harshly criticized Zelenskyy, without naming him
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