New York, NY, February 25, 2019 …

ADL (Anti-Defamation League) today welcomed the United Kingdom’s important decision to ban Lebanese Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist group. Until now, Britain had merely proscribed Hezbollah’s “military wing,” a policy that is still pursued by the European Union even though Hezbollah itself admits that such a distinction is inaccurate and arbitrary.

“Hezbollah threatens the security of not just Israel, but also the entire Middle East. We welcome the British government’s decision to finally ban Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist group,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. “This step is long overdue. ADL calls on all world governments – especially in those parts of Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia where the group raises funds – to fully ban Hezbollah as a terrorist group.”

ADL has advocated for H. Res. 359, a bipartisan House resolution that successfully passed during the last session of Congress calling on the governments of the EU to designate the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist group. In the last year, ADL also raised this issue directly with the British government; prohibiting all of Hezbollah has been a longstanding request of the UK Jewish community.