Russia's ambassador to Israel was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday for a dressing down following scathing comments he made against the Jewish state.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post published a lengthy interview with Ambassador Anatoly Viktorov, in which he pointed to the Jewish state as the "problem" in the Middle East – not Iran.
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He further suggested that Jerusalem's ignoring of the Palestinian issue is the root cause for the region's instability.
"It's a lack of understanding between countries and non-compliance with [United Nations] resolutions in the Israel-Arab and Israel-Palestinian conflict" that destabilizes the region, he said.
In the interview, Viktorov was also quoted as accusing Israel of fueling violence, referring to airstrikes in Syria that have targeted Iranian military positions and arms convoys earmarked for Hezbollah.
"Israel is attacking Hezbollah, Hezbollah is not attacking Israel," he said, adding that Israel should not attack "the territories of sovereign UN members."
The Foreign Ministry earlier said Viktorov was "seriously reprimanded" for his comments by Alon Bar, the ministry's political director.
"Bar rejected out of hand the comments published in the interview and emphasized that they are inconsistent with the reality in the Middle East," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
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Bar also said regional issues, "especially the Iranian threat and terror groups who do Iran's bidding, particularly Hezbollah," should be discussed through diplomatic channels, "with reference to the reality and threats which Israel is dealing with and not outrageous and dangerous false visions," according to the statement.
He further clarified Israel's stance on the matter and expressed Israel's expectations that discourse on regional issues will be conducted through diplomatic channels only.
The Israeli government expects dialogue with Moscow to "relate to reality and the threats Israel faces, and not to outrageous and dangerously false illusions, as is and has been customary thus far between the two countries," the statement read.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
