Germany Fully Bans Hezbollah

[additional-authors]

Aaron Bandler

April 30, 2020

MLEETA, LEBANON – NOVEMBER 14: The Lebanese and Hezbollah flags fly at the Resistance Museum, a showcase built by the Shi’ite militia group Hezbollah which controls large swaths of southern Lebanon on November 14, 2013 in Mleeta, Lebanon. The museum, which sits on the a hilltop about 90 kilometers from the border with Israel, has already received a half a million visitors since opening in 2010. The sprawling museum features tunnels used by Hezbollah, captured Israeli tanks and walking paths that go through areas where the fighters launched attacks. In 2006 Hezbollah fought a violent month-long war with Israel in which the group fired rockets at Israeli towns and cities while being bombarded daily with missiles from Israeli warplanes. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Germany’s Interior Ministry announced in an April 30 statement that the Iranian Shiite terror proxy Hezbollah has been fully banned in Germany.

The German parliament had passed a resolution in December calling for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to implement the ban. Before the Interior Ministry’s announcement, only Hezbollah’s military wing was banned in Germany; the group also wasn’t designated as a terror organization until April 30.

“As the authority responsible for issuing the ban, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community is of the opinion that Hezbollah openly calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel and questions the right of the State of Israel to exist,” the ministry said in the statement. “The organization is therefore fundamentally against the concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents itself as a political, social or military structure.”

Under the ban, any Hezbollah activity as well as images of Hezbollah symbols are prohibited.

The German government launched raids against mosques and individuals on April 30 believed to be providing financial support to Hezbollah and disseminating pro-Hezbollah propaganda.

Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the German news outlet Bild, “Hezbollah is a terrorist organization deemed responsible for numerous attacks and kidnappings worldwide.”

Acting Director of National Intelligence and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell tweeted, “The world is a little bit safer.”

https://twitter.com/RichardGrenell/status/1255814008046845957

Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz praised the move.

“I want to express my appreciation to the German government for this step and am certain many governments in the Middle East and victims of Hezbollah’s terrorism share my gratitude,” he said.

Katz urged other members of the European Union (EU) to follow suit.

“Hezbollah — both its military and political wings — constitutes a terror organization, and that is how it must be treated,” he added.

The only other European countries that have banned Hezbollah are Britain and the Netherlands.

American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO David Harris said in a statement, “This is a welcome, much-anticipated, and significant German decision. We would like to thank the Government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and express particular appreciation for the leadership role of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer as well as the important support of Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, in advancing the landmark decision.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center similarly tweeted, “Simon Wiesenthal Center applauds German Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Maas for decision to totally ban #Hezbollah. It will curb terrorist group’s fundraising, logistical and anti-Semitic efforts in #Germany.”

Simon Wiesenthal Center applauds German Chancellor Merkel and Foreign Minister Maas for decision to totally ban #Hezbollah. It will curb terrorist group’s fundraising, logistical and anti-Semitic efforts in #Germany.
https://t.co/zw2gILpaXr #FoxNews

— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) April 30, 2020