Bild: Why is Putin hitting Lavrov from behind?

“Was this a public slap in the face to his lying minister?” Bild asks in an article on the leak from Israeli sources, according to which Vladimir Putin apologized to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for the statements of the fake Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The latter had claimed last Sunday on the Italian channel Rete 4 (owned by Mediaset): “I may be wrong, but Hitler also had Jewish blood.” In addition, according to him, the Jews were “the biggest anti-Semites”.

On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry went even further, accusing Israel of supporting “the neo-Nazi regime in Kyiv.” His spokesman claimed that “Israeli mercenaries” were fighting alongside Azov.

A new propaganda blow from Moscow, however, which the Kremlin leader Putin personally took back, if one believes the Israeli statements. Moscow did not confirm the apology, Bild notes.

Both Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Jair Lapid have strongly protested, with the latter speaking of “a line that has been crossed”. The Russian ambassador was summoned for a “clarification discussion”.

The Israeli government is also considering sending weapons to Ukraine.

This would be a turning point in its policy towards Ukraine: Although the Israeli people are in solidarity with Ukraine, the government is pursuing a cautious policy that prioritizes its own security interests and does not want to anger Russia.

It is recalled that Putin’s troops are in neighboring Syria and so far turn a blind eye when Israel defends itself against attacks by the Hezbollah terrorist militia from Syria and Lebanon.

Relations between Israel and Russia are considered good. The expert on Russia Dr. Margarete Klein told Bild that “under Putin, Russia’s rapprochement with Israel, based on pragmatism, could be seen from an early age. “Israel, economic interests, but mainly the need to create reliable channels of communication and decongestion in the field of security policy with Israel in view of the Russian military intervention in Syria from 2015”.

An apology from Putin and a slap in the face to his foreign minister would be very unusual. Could Israel’s strong reaction ensure this?

Russian expert Sergei Sumlenny believes this could be a conspiracy. “Putin did not think such a reaction would come,” he told Bild.

Putin overestimated his position and considered that he had the Israelis “in his pocket” through his personal relations and certain commonalities, so that there would not be much opposition to Lavrov’s disgusting propaganda.

Sumlenny rules out speculation that oligarchs and wealthy Russians with dual citizenship (Russian and Israeli) had influence over Putin. “Putin does not see them as friends, he sees them as citizens. And the ruler is allowed to do everything with his subjects.”

Sumlenny suspects that Lavrov’s propaganda was not directed inwards, but outwards, that is, not in his own country. That’s why he only gave the interview to a smaller Italian television station.

A possible target of Lavrov’s attack is the mobilization of anti-Semitic forces in the Middle East. Because even there no country, except Syria, has so far supported Russia, for example in UN votes.

For Sumlenny, however, it is clear that anti-Semitism is part of the political beliefs of both Lavrov and Putin. Meanwhile, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are being broadcast without comment on prime-time Russian state television. They are very popular in Russian society.

But the fact that Lavrov goes so far as to accuse Jews and Israelis of liking the Nazis could be due to the fact that he has fallen victim to his own propaganda.

Russian “self-knowledge”, almost the defining identity, plays an important role in this. He says: “We are the ones who defeated the Nazis on our own.” And from this it follows: “Only a Nazi can criticize such a glorious country.”