Israeli ambassador to Berlin Jeremy Issacharoff has urged Germany and the rest of the European Union (EU) to classify the entire Hezbollah organisation as a terrorist organisation.
Issacharoff’s remarks came ahead of Thursday’s session in the Bundestag, where a possible ban on Hezbollah’s activities in Germany is to be discussed.
“The political wing of the Lebanon-based Shiite group should be treated the same as its armed wing.
“There can be no distinction between the military and so-called ‘civilian’ wing of the organisation.
“The entire Hezbollah structure is complicit in terror.
“I don’t think any serious intelligence organisation would disagree with this,” he said.
The Israeli ambassador to Germany stressed that in the past three decades, not only Israelis, however, also Europeans have been affected by the “vicious and relentless terror carried out by Hezbollah.”
The issue is currently being examined by the government.
Hezbollah was founded in Lebanon in 1982.
In Germany, as in most other EU states, only the organisation’s political representatives are allowed, while its military wing is prohibited from activities.
The EU put Hezbollah’s military arm on its terrorism list in 2013.
However, in March, Britain classified the organization as a whole as a terrorist group, followed by the Netherlands, the U.S. and Canada, among others.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency estimates that there are about 1,050 Hezbollah members and supporters currently in the country. (dpa/NAN)
