Members of the European Jewish Parliament urged 27 foreign ministers to avoid the “error and half-measure” of calling only Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist entity.
“Let us insist on the fact that there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s ‘political wing’ and ‘military wing,’ ” members of the European Jewish Parliament from the European Union’s 27 member-states wrote in letters sent Feb. 12 to their respective foreign ministers.
“There is a risk that the ministers who will meet on Feb. 18 in Brussels will decide on this half-measure,” EJP co-chair Joel Rubinfeld said in reaction to a report by Bulgarian security authorities last week that linked Hezbollah to a deadly July 18 terrorist attack on Israelis in Bulgaria.
The report found the attack was carried out by agents of Hezbollah’s military wing and funded by the organization. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in the attack that killed six, including five Israelis.
In the EU, only the United Kingdom makes a distinction between Hezbollah’s military and political wings; it regards the military wing as terrorist but has not outlawed Hezbollah in general. The European Jewish Parliament encouraged other EU states to follow the example of the Netherlands, the only member-state that considers Hezbollah in its entirety a terrorist group. — jta