A top
Jewish congressman held hearings on the European Union’s refusal to place
Hezbollah on its terrorist list.
“It
is deeply disconcerting that a deadly terrorist organization, such as
Hezbollah, uses European soil as a safe haven to organize, fundraise and
recruit,” said Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.), who chairs the Europe subcommittee of the U.S. House of
Representatives Foreign Affairs committee.
Hezbollah,
an Iranian proxy in Lebanon, launched a war against Israel last summer. The European Union has
until now resisted banning Hezbollah, partly because it has democratic
representation in the Lebanese parliament, although democratic representation
has not kept the European Union from banning Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist
group.
“The
addition of Hezbollah to the E.U. terrorist list would bolster transatlantic
counterterrorism cooperation, dry up critical funding for Hezbollah’s terrorist
activities, and weaken Iran and Syria’s ability to further destabilize Lebanon and the entire Middle East,” Wexler said in a statement
released before the hearing took place Wednesday.
