November 30, 2020 — New York
American Jewish Committee applauded the Slovenian government for recognizing Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. The government announced today that it “adopted a decision on treating the Hezbollah Group as a criminal and terrorist organization posing a threat to peace and security.”
The government statement noted that “Hezbollah's activities are intertwined with organized crime and the conduct of terrorist or paramilitary activities on a global scale. Hezbollah has already been named a terrorist organization by a number of countries and organizations.”
Slovenia becomes the sixth EU member, after the Netherlands, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia to recognize the Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Others who have taken similar action include Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, Israel, Kosovo, Paraguay, Serbia, United Kingdom, and United States, as well as the Arab League and Gulf Cooperation Council.
“Thankfully, there is today a growing trend to shed any illusions and confront the stark reality that Hezbollah is one indivisible organization, and that organization is terrorist through and through,” said AJC CEO David Harris. “Other European nations, we earnestly hope, not to mention the European Union (EU) itself, will soon get on board and also designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group in its entirety.”
In 2013, following a deadly Hezbollah attack in Bulgaria and another incident in Cyprus, the EU made a decision to bifurcate the Iranian proxy. Due mostly to French opposition to designate all of Hezbollah, Brussels listed only its so-called “military” wing as a terror group, but not its “political” wing. It is an artificial distinction that Hezbollah itself rejects and, in any case, has no basis in fact.
“Permitting Hezbollah’s ‘political’ wing to operate on European soil has allowed for recruitment, fundraising, and the poisonous spread of antisemitism, not to mention sending a European message of hesitation and indecisiveness,” Harris added.
For well over two decades, AJC has been urging governments across Europe — and around the world — to label Hezbollah a terrorist organization, and take concrete measures to contain and confront its activities, including money laundering, narco-trafficking, smuggling explosives and weapons, and creating active cells on every continent.
