Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan thanks the British government for blacklisting Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, including its political wing.
In a statement, Erdan says that he discussed the issue before with Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javid, and told him it was “an important way to combat the group’s murderous agenda. We cannot allow terrorist groups to hide behind the veil of a legitimate political or government entity.”
A draft order laid in the UK Parliament today will ban membership of Hezbollah, alongside two other groups. Subject to Parliament’s approval, the order will go into effect on Friday and being a member, or inviting support for Hezbollah will be a criminal offense, carrying a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan speaks at a ceremony for a new municipal police station in Beit Shemesh, January 7, 2019. (Yaakov Lederman/Flash90)
Hezbollah made electoral gains in Lebanon last year and now has three ministers in the government. The US and others accuse the group of destabilizing the region through its military intervention in Syria on the side of President Bashar Assad’s government.
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah officials in Beirut.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 25, 2019
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
