Zelenskyy evokes Holocaust as he appeals for aid

JERUSALEM (AP):

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 over Zoom, 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 trivialising 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 six million Jews during World War II.

“You remember it and will never forget it for sure,” he said. “But you should hear what is coming from Moscow now. They are saying the same words now: ‘final solution’. But this time it’s about us, about the Ukrainian question.”

HOLOCAST MEMORIAL

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 has sought to paint his enemies in Ukraine as neo-Nazis as he tries to legitimise 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.