Israel’s non-resident ambassador to Moldova, Joel Lion, has condemned statements made by Shor party MP Marina Tauber in the context of her inclusion at the end of May on the EU sanctions list for destabilizing Moldova. The deputy leader of the Shor party said at the time that European states were committing “a new genocide against the Jews, against him, against Ilan Shor and his whole team”.

“As an ambassador of Israel and the child of a Holocaust survivor,” the official condemned Marina Tauber’s comments and urged the Moldovan government to act against all forms of Holocaust distortion and denial, “especially when they come from representatives of Parliament.”

“The offensive comments made by Marina Tauber, a member of the Moldovan Parliament and Deputy Chair of the Shor Party, are unacceptable. The use of the Holocaust to justify false accusations falls under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism,” Joel Lion wrote on 18 June on Twitter.

Moldova’s ambassador to Israel, Alexandr Roitman, responded on the same social media platform, saying “we stand with Israel and the Jewish community in condemning Marina Tauber’s offensive remarks on the Holocaust”.

“It is worrying that Ilan Shor, the leader of Ms Tauber’s party, convicted of serious financial crimes, is operating from Israel, fuelling discord in our society and bilateral relations,” Alexandr Roitman wrote.

On 7 June, Marina Tauber, who was at the Chisinau court to consider the extension of her house arrest, commented on the EU’s sanctioning of her and Ilan Shor, saying it reminded her of her relatives “who were burned alive in gas chambers during the Holocaust”.

“I want European states to remember the crimes committed against Jews during the Second World War. It is with great pain that I remember my relatives who were burned alive in the gas chambers of Nazi concentration camps. And when I found out that the European Union included me on the sanctions list, I just smiled and said to myself: Thank you Europe! Again you make a mockery of my family. And all the apologies, expressed so far, are just dust in the eyes of the world community. Today, together with Maia Sandu, you are committing a new genocide against the Jews, against me, against Ilan Shor and our whole team here in Moldova”, Marina Tauber said at the time.

Ilan Shor, Gherghe Cavcaliuc, Marina Tauber, Vladimir Plahotniuc and Igor Chaika have been sanctioned by the European Community for allegedly supporting or implementing actions that undermine or threaten Moldova’s sovereignty and independence, democracy, the rule of law, stability or security.