Top US Jewish Organization Praises Congressional Letter Calling on EU to Proscribe Hezbollah
by Benjamin Kerstein
A top US Jewish organization expressed praise and support for a bipartisan Congressional letter urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group in its entirety.
Chairman Arthur Stark, CEO William Daroff, and Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said in a statement, “We applaud the bipartisan letter sent by members of the US House and Senate to the European Union urging that it designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.”
“No quarter should be given to these purveyors of murder and vicious antisemitism, who are unyielding in their quest to destroy the Jewish state,” they added.
They thanked the sponsors of the letter and said, “We hope to see the EU take this decisive action against Hezbollah.”
Hezbollah’s “military wing” is proscribed in much of the EU, but not its “political wing.” Efforts have been underway for years to proscribe both “wings” of the group, which Hezbollah itself does not distinguish.
The Congressional letter, sponsored by Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Jackie Rosen (D-NV), and in the House by Ted Deutch (D-FL) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY), pointed out that “Hezbollah has increasingly used Europe as a launching pad for its criminal and terrorist activities.”
It also noted Hezbollah terror attacks that have been committed on the continent.
“We strongly urge the EU to designate the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,” the letter said.