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Russian FM Lavrov said in an interview that he was shocked that former Israeli PM Lapid criticized Russia about their attempts to demilitarize Ukraine (and subsequent "annexation"), when Israel is [now] doing the same with Gaza/Hamas. And right after that Lavrov says something to the effect that during several talks with (now PM) Netanyahu the Russian side hasn't received such criticism (from Netanyahu). Machine translated transcript:

You said that Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu announced that Hamas must be destroyed entirely and as a military force. This is similar to demilitarization. He also said that extremism must be eliminated in Gaza. This is similar to denazification. Moreover, I don’t really understand why the previous Israeli government, when Ya. Lapid was Prime Minister (before that he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, then became Prime Minister), reacted so much to the start of our special military operation. His reaction was surprising to me. Like, how dare Russia use force against the civilian population and annex Ukrainian territories.

It wasn't fair. We talked about this with him. I don’t know how he now analyzes and describes events, but Israeli Prime Minister B. Netanyahu, despite numerous critical statements from all over the world and the fact that he found himself in a serious situation, he did not and does not allow himself to make any statements in relation to Russia. Twice telephone conversations took place with the President of Russia V.V. Putin ( 1 , 2 ).

(Citation/links inside may be very slow.)

In case there are some issues with the translation; the most relevant sentence in original transcript:

Не знаю, как он сейчас анализирует и описывает события, но Премьер-министр Израиля Б.Нетаньяху, несмотря на многочисленные критические высказывания со всего мира и то, что он оказался в серьезной ситуации, он не позволял и не позволяет себе каких-либо высказываний в отношении России.

So, is it true what Lavrov appears to imply there, that Netanyahu hasn't criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine, even in other venues?

the gods from engineering
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  • Why is negative in brackets? Are you interested in all statements no matter what sort? Or what do you mean by negative statement? Condemning it? Accusing Putin of war crimes? Or milder things like saying it was badly timed or ineptly executed or will have bad practical consequences such as increased prices? – Stuart F Mar 16 '24 at 13:33
  • @StuartF: it's clear to me that that's the main thrust of Lavrov's statement in that regard--i.e. lack of criticism from Netanyahu. If you disagree, as your probable DV & comment appears to indicate, so be it. – the gods from engineering Mar 16 '24 at 13:49
  • @StuartF: and yeah, Lavrov technically said N "did not and does not allow himself to make any statements in relation to Russia" (он не позволял и не позволяет себе каких-либо высказываний в отношении России), but that's probably easily rebutted if taken literally and out of context. – the gods from engineering Mar 16 '24 at 14:29
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    ref https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/73707/21531 – Italian Philosophers 4 Monica Mar 16 '24 at 15:16
  • @ItalianPhilosophers4Monica: yeah, but no statements by one person and no sanctions (even by the gov't that then did criticize) are somewhat different issues, even if related. – the gods from engineering Mar 16 '24 at 15:20

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