The American Jewish Committee (AJC) praised the introduction of a US Senate resolution on Thursday that called on the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
Currently, only the “military wing” of Hezbollah is listed as a terror group by the EU.
The bipartisan resolution, introduced by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), follows a similar July resolution in the House of Representatives that was also lauded by the AJC.
“We encourage swift passage of this important bipartisan resolution in the House and Senate. It is past time for the EU to do the right thing and correct the fiction of a bifurcated Hezbollah it endorsed nearly a decade ago,” said AJC CEO David Harris.
ACJ noted that for years they have called on governments to label the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and also urged sanctions against it.
“Mistakenly believing it can tame Hezbollah’s behavior, a proposition unsupported by evidence, the EU has created ‘military’ and ‘political’ wings within Hezbollah, when, in reality, it is a single, unified terrorist entity,” Harris said.
Designating the entirety of Hezbollah as a terror entity would enable to EU to crack down on the group’s ability to raise funds, recruit and mobilize, especially within European cities where it engages in illicit narco- and weapons-trafficking, money laundering, stockpiling of explosives, and surveillance, the AJC noted.
The designation “would lead to the issuance of arrest warrants against members and active supporters of Hezbollah, the freezing of its assets in Europe, and a prohibition of fundraising activities on its behalf,” the ACJ added.
Around 20 countries currently designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.
“This congressional effort follows similar resolutions over the course of the last decade, strongly supported by AJC, that urged full designation of Hezbollah as a terror organization,” the AJC said.