Sovetskaya Belorussiya chief editor says that Lukashenka’s remarks about Jews were a joke

Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s recent remarks about Jews in Babruysk were nothing but a joke, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted Pavel Yakubovich, editor in chief of the largest government-controlled newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya, as saying on Tuesday.

He made the statement while meeting with Pini Avivi, the Israeli foreign ministry's deputy director for Central Europe and Eurasia, in Jerusalem where it is widely believed Mr. Yakubovich, a Jew himself, rushed to to clear the air following reactions to the Belarusian leader’s remarks.

Mr. Yakubovich said that the remarks did not reflect Mr. Lukashenka’s true position regarding the Jewish people.

He said that the Belarusian leader was "anything but anti-Semitic," and that the head of state was even "insulted by the mere accusation."

The official of the Israeli foreign ministry said the “affair was a resolved matter.”

In Jerusalem, Mr. Yakubovich together with Belarusian Ambassador Ihar Lyashchenya also met with Sofa Landver, a senior member of Israel’s Knesset (parliament), to “explain” Mr. Lukashenka’s remarks to the MP.

“The Jewish people remember the offenses that were caused regarding them many times in their centuries-long history,” the Mignews news agency quoted Ms. Landver as saying at the meeting. “And that is why we want such incidents to occur as seldom as possible today, in the 21st century. Relations between Israel and Belarus have always been based on the principles of self respect and it is necessary to strengthen them, not cast doubt on them.”

While talking to a group of Russian reporters on October 12, Mr. Lukashenka blamed Jewish residents for turning Babruysk into a “sty.”

“If you were in Babruysk, you saw in what condition the city was. Entering it was a fearful experience! It was a sty! This was mainly a Jewish city. Well, you know how Jews treat the place where they’re living. Look at Israel,” he said.

Rene van der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), called on the Belarusian leader to apologize for the remarks.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni "strongly condemned" them.