Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed on Friday an announcement that British Home Secretary Priti Patel is to push for Hamas to be proscribed as a terrorist organization, as reported in British media.
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While the military wing of Hamas has been defined in the UK as a terrorist entity since 2001, Patel said Friday that she would seek to include the movement as a whole under that classification, the Telegraph reported.
Patel noted that Hamas has "significant terrorist capability, including access to extensive and sophisticated weaponry," but the UK's current listing of Hamas as distinct political and militant wings created "an artificial distinction between various parts of the organization."
The home secretary also called Hamas "fundamentally and rabidly antisemitic."
"Antisemitism is an enduring evil which I will never tolerate. Jewish people routinely feel unsafe – at school, in the streets, when they worship, in their homes, and online," she said.
"Anyone who supports or invites support for a proscribed organization is breaking the law. That now includes Hamas in whatever form it takes," Patel said.
Bennett said in a Twitter post that "Hamas is a terrorist organization, simply put."
"Hamas is a radical Islamic group that targets innocent Israelis & seeks Israel's destruction. I welcome the UK's intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organization in its entirety -- because that's exactly what it is," Bennett tweeted.
Hamas is a radical Islamic group that targets innocent Israelis & seeks Israel's destruction.
I welcome the UK's intention to declare Hamas a terrorist organization in its entirety — because that's exactly what it is.
Thank you to my friend @BorisJohnson for your leadership.
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) November 19, 2021
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in response to the reports of Patel's planned action that "there is no legitimate part of a terrorist organization, and any attempt to separate between parts of a terrorist organization is artificial."
Lapid said that Patel's announcement "summed up an intimate, successful dialogue between Israel and Britain, led by the Foreign Ministry and our embassy team in London, under Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely."
Lapid thanked Britain for its "productive cooperation" on the issue.
Reuters contributed to this report.
