JERUSALEM, May 02 (Reuters)- Israel denounced Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday (May 2) for suggesting that the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had Jewish origins, saying his comments were anti-Semitic and dangerous.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the Russian ambassador would be summoned for "a tough talk" over the assertion, which Lavrov made on Sunday in an interview with Italian television.

"It is an unforgivable, scandalous statement, a terrible historical mistake, and we expect an apology," Lapid told the YNet news website.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian embassy.

During an interview with Italy's Rete 4 channel, Lavrov was asked how Russia could say it needed to "denazify" Ukraine, when the country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was Jewish.

"When they say 'What sort of nazification is this if we are Jews', well I think that Hitler also had Jewish origins, so it means nothing," Lavrov said, speaking through an Italian interpreter.

"For a long time now we've been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves," he added.