Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates plan to jointly seek Hezbollah's designation as a terrorist group by nations that have yet to do so, a senior Israeli official told Israel Hayom Thursday.
So far, the Iranian-backed Shiite group has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Austria, Argentina, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Serbia, Switzerland, and Venezuela.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The Arab League branded Hezbollah as a terrorist group in 2016, as did the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council representing Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar.
The EU has designated only Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group, as have France, Australia, and New Zealand.
Yehoshua Zarka, deputy director for strategic affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said the goal is to have the UN designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
The fact that the EU, as well as many other countries, has only designated Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist group allowed it to keep up its fundraising efforts, under the auspices of donations to humanitarian, welfare and educational endeavors.
But Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah "doesn't make that distinction so these donations still make up 30% of Hezbollah's budget, so this is significant income," Zarka said.
He revealed that Israel's approach to seeking Hezbollah bans has changed over time, saying that a change in semantics led to a change in policy.
"Rather than declare that countries needed to 'outlaw' Hezbollah, we revised the goal and instructed our missions in every country to detect the angle that each country could use to ban Hezbollah activity on its soil. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi spoke with his counterparts and it pushed the process even further.
"Sometimes we asked the Americans to use their pull, and in other cases our friends in the Mossad relayed intelligence that helped countries make the call."
Asked what Israel gains from having other countries outlaw Hezbollah, Zarka said, "Undermining Hezbollah weakens Iran. It also deprives them [Hezbollah] from funds and undercut its image.
"We're focusing our efforts on the EU because that affects all of its [27] members. The goal was to have the UN designation Hezbollah as a terrorist group."
Nasrallah, meanwhile, boasted Sunday that his organization was "as ready as ever" for a war with Israel.
"The enemy no longer threatens it will conquer Lebanon," he said of Israel in a televised address. "Now they think twice before striking.
"The enemy's army suffers from psychological defects, that's why it holds ground maneuvers – to instill a sense of trust among its soldiers," Nasrallah said referring to last week's wide-scale military exercise in northern Israel.
He further claimed that, as part of his organization's desire to look out for Lebanon's best interest, Hezbollah had refrained from opposing Beirut's decision to embark on UN-led maritime border talks between Israel.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
