Hitler 'had Jewish origins', claims Russian minister Sergei Lavrov annoyed Isreal

Moscow has previously said it wants to "de-militarise" and "de-Nazify" Ukraine. (Representational)/NDTV

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Monday slammed his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for alleging Adolf Hitler may have "had Jewish blood" and summoned the Russian ambassador for "clarifications".

Israel has sought to keep a delicate balance between the two sides, but remarks by the Russian foreign minister to an Italian channel sparked anger in Israel.

Sergei Lavrov hit out at Ukraine's president during an interview with Italian media, saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Jewish ancestry "doesn't mean anything" while trying to justify Vladimir Putin's call to "denazify" the nation.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, President Putin described it as a "special military operation" to remove leaders he claimed were neo-Nazis.

Israeli foreign minister Yair Lapid said the comments were "scandalous and a horrible historical error".

He added: "The Jews did not murder themselves in the Holocaust. The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame Jews themselves for antisemitism."

Israel has called Mr Lavrov's remarks "unforgiveable".