The German parliament building in Berlin. Photo: Reuters / Hannibal Hanschke.

A top US Jewish group welcomed the Bundestag’s approval on Thursday of a motion calling on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to prohibit all Hezbollah activities in Germany.

“We commend the Bundestag for voting overwhelmingly in favor of a measure requesting that the German government institute a ban on the terrorist organization Hezbollah within Germany,” Arthur Stark, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, stated. “We urge the government to act quickly to follow up.”

“An Iranian proxy with the blood of countless innocents on its hands, Hezbollah conducts criminal operations in the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere to finance its terror activities around the world,” they added. “No quarter should be given to these purveyors of murder and Jew-hatred, who are unyielding in their quest to destroy the Jewish state.”

“We look forward to seeing this implemented and encourage other countries to join Germany in banning Hezbollah,” Stark and Hoenlein concluded.

The non-binding motion was backed by Merkel’s conservatives, their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners and the opposition Free Democrats.