Israel Embassy condemns anti-Semitic slogans at the march to honour Bandera

Slogans of participants in the march to celebrate Bandera's birthday. Photo: klymenko-time.com

Israel condemned manifestations of anti-Semitism during a march in honour of Bandera held in Kyiv on January 1, reports the official Facebook page of the Israeli Embassy in Ukraine.

"Israel condemns the nationalist march in honour of Bandera. The glorification of those who supported Nazi ideology desecrates the memory of Holocaust victims in Ukraine. We demand an investigation into the anti-Semitic manifestations that took place during the march in accordance with the law adopted in 2021," reads the Embassy’s statement.

Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky told Newsru.co.il that from the foreign ministry's point of view, people who supported Nazi ideology, including Stepan Bandera, should not become heroes.

"Our point of view is backed up, among other things, by the research of the Yad Vashem centre and other well-known historians. Bandera and some of the leaders of the Ukrainian nationalist movement supported the ideology of the Nazis, including the final solution of the Jewish question. We believe that such people should not become heroes," he said.

Brodsky underscored that Israel and the Jewish people are not imposing this viewpoint on anyone but felt it necessary to voice it as this is a matter of principle.

The Israeli Ambassador recalled that in October 2021, the Supreme Rada passed a law against anti-Semitism and tougher penalties for those who manifest it.

"We would like to see this law in action, that it is not just a declaration," he resumed.

Earlier, the UOJ wrote about the OCU "priest" Yaroslav Yasenets, who on 1 January 2022 said that the Greek Catholic Bandera was fulfilling God's mission on earth and "served" a memorial service for him outside the Office of the President.

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