by Ron Prosor
Hat tip: Dr. Jean-Charles Bensoussan
Israel must invest in severing Hezbollah from its main sources of funding and global deployment.
After
70 years, no Israeli citizen can look to our northern border without a
growing sense of concern over the greatest conventional threat to our
security: Hezbollah, the Iran-sponsored Shiite terrorist group.
Ever since the 2006 Second Lebanon War,
Hezbollah has been trying to rehabilitate its abilities and Israel's
defense apparatus has taken great pains to prevent this and to deter
Iran, the group's patron.
But this is insufficient. Deterrence and
prevention alone are not enough. Israel must invest in severing
Hezbollah from its main sources of funding and global deployment.
To this end, Israel has another tool at its
disposal, one that is multinational and would be effective and
efficient if implemented properly, but one that has simply been ignored
by Israel in recent years: the diplomatic campaign.
This entails an international effort
spearheaded by us, supported by our friends across the globe, via direct
and indirect diplomatic channels, overt and covert. Its objective would
be to create an international chokehold around Hezbollah's neck,
effectively forcing the organization into a state of operational
asphyxiation far before any Israeli soldier sets foot on Lebanese soil.
What is the diplomatic campaign? In short:
We must bring the European Union to categorize Hezbollah in its entirety
as a "terrorist entity," including its "diplomatic wing."
Today, most of Europe (aside from the
Netherlands) artificially distinguishes between Hezbollah's military
wing and its diplomatic wing. Since 2013, the EU has recognized only the
military wing as a terrorist organization, leaving the diplomatic wing
to act unimpeded. This is a political compromise from the European
school of diplomacy, a terrible compromise at that.
The United States and some Persian Gulf
states do define the entire organization as a terrorist entity, from top
to bottom. Ironically, Hezbollah itself also does not distinguish
between its wings.
Under the current conditions, Europe, Iran
and some countries in Africa and South America have become Hezbollah's
primary sources of income. Tens of millions of dollars are transferred
monthly through drug deals, smuggling, money laundering and "charity"
groups to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, money that fuels the
group's terrorist engine.
Why is labeling a group a terrorist entity
significant? The moment it is classed as such, its bank accounts,
businesses and finances are treated as illegal and are heavily
sanctioned. Its members are placed on no-flight lists, and law
enforcement agencies can use more effective tools. Hezbollah's
"free-trade zone" would officially be closed.
If Europe finally decides to call the child
by its name, Israel and other countries in the region would benefit, of
course. Less money means fewer weapons; in other words, a less menacing
Hezbollah. Instead of destroying its weapons stockpiles with countless
bombing sorties, we would hamper its procurement efforts in advance.
Is this even realistic? The answer is yes.
In relatively short order, Europe can classify Hezbollah a terrorist
organization and hinder its international activities dramatically.
Meanwhile, as in any campaign, work must be
done in stages. First, targets need to be defined for the purpose of
gathering intelligence about them and exposing them. We must clearly
show the Europeans how much damage Hezbollah causes them by operating
unrestrained on their soil. Not damage to Israel, but damage to Europe,
which is considerable. We must start with a leading country – Germany,
which suffers from Hezbollah's activities and is aware of the intrinsic
dangers.
In recent months, Israel has embarked on
this mission in earnest. A team of researchers from the Lauder School of
Government, Diplomacy and Strategy and the International Institute for
Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya – helped by friends from Israel's
security agencies and across the globe – has compiled information and
formulated messages ahead of the exposure stage, to be launched in
coming weeks.
After this comes the mobilization stage,
where the goal is to spur international action to take the steps needed
to change Germany's and subsequently all of Europe's approach to
Hezbollah.
The diplomatic campaign aimed at Hezbollah
is vital and of utmost importance. Its objective is to shut down
Hezbollah's European carnival and strike a significant blow against it,
before any military campaign even begins. The sooner this is done the
better.
Ron
Prosor is head of the Abba Eban Chair of International Diplomacy at the
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and Israel's former ambassador to the
U.N.
Ron Prosor
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/time-to-target-hezbollah-in-europe/
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Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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