Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has once again made a series of antisemitic remarks, this time in an interview with Al Arabiya broadcast on Monday. One of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most senior allies claimed, among other things, that the "Jewish lobby" was what prevented Russia from securing a swift victory in the war in Ukraine.
According to Lukashenko, at the start of the war "everyone understood that it would end in a quick Russian victory, mainly because the Russians were already in Kyiv," but "certain statesmen and forces asked Putin to stop, withdraw the troops from Kyiv and sign a peace agreement." He claimed that Putin agreed to withdraw because he wanted peace, but was misled. "Not for the first time, those forces cheated. It was the Vatican and, surprisingly, the Jewish lobby, the Israelis. They declared on Zelenskyy's behalf: That's it, we are going for peace, we agree. And others did too," he said.
Lukashenko added that in his view, and in the view of senior officers in his General Staff, had the Russians continued their offensive at the time, "neither Zelenskyy nor anyone else would have remained there." He said that "the war has dragged on, it is now in its fifth year, and no one has achieved their goals." He also claimed that the Russians were advancing on the battlefield and were, overall, doing better than Ukraine's military.
In the interview, Lukashenko also addressed tensions between the US and Iran, claiming that Israel had provoked the US and dragged it into the confrontation. "The Israeli lobby in the US, the Jewish lobby, is very strong. These are rich and powerful people with influence," he said, while adding that the American administration also bore responsibility. "You are the president, you have the Defense Department, the State Department and other institutions, they also should have warned you," he said.
He also asked why, if the US has nuclear weapons and Israel "keeps silent" about its nuclear armament, "Iran and other countries cannot possess nuclear weapons to defend themselves."
Later in the interview, Lukashenko attacked Israel over the war in Gaza and compared it to the Holocaust. "They have already earned themselves the worst possible reputation in the world after bombing Gaza," he said, asking derisively: "What Holocaust are the Israelis talking about, when they themselves have killed so many people, first and foremost women and children? After all, many children have been killed in Gaza." He further claimed that Israel was "planning to build a resort on human bones," alluding to plans to develop the Gaza Strip.
This is not the first time Lukashenko, widely regarded as a dictator and a close ally of Putin, has made antisemitic remarks. In June 2024, he claimed that Jews enjoyed privileges and were prominent in public corruption, and in 2007 he said the city of Bobruisk was neglected and dirty because it was a "Jewish city." In 2023, he told reporters in St. Petersburg: "The Armenians are a smart people. After all, they do not have even one Jew in their country."
