Abba Eban Inst.: EU must designate Hezbollah as a terrorist org
With its Hezbollah research, for example, Cohen plans to speak to the German Bundestag next week to present its findings as a way to lobby the parliamentarian body.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: NOVEMBER 22, 2018 01:59 SUPPORTERS OF Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah display Hezbollah and Lebanese flags in Baalbek, Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon in August last year. (Hassan Abdallah/Reuters)(photo credit: HASSAN ABDALLAH / REUTERS)
The EU must designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, Yaniv Cohen, executive director of the Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy, said.Cohen spoke at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference about his organization’s push to convince EU decision-makers that letting the organization run freely in the continent poses a threat to European and global security.“I would refer to Hezbollah as an octopus,” Cohen said, showing how one Hezbollah operative in its political arm has connections to its military arm, which is based on drugs, money laundering and other nefarious activities.“Most EU countries don’t have this information.... They don’t see the entire picture,” Cohen said.Cohen presented his findings, which were part of an elaborate 16-month research initiative conducted by the “do” tank, which believes in reinventing the diplomacy paradigm. As such, the organization invests in comprehensive research about a subject which then becomes a call to proactive action.With its Hezbollah research, for example, Cohen plans to speak to the German Bundestag next week to present its findings as a way to lobby the parliamentarian body.“This is what Israeli diplomacy should be – to invest in research and turn it into proactive action, which makes diplomacy more innovative and effective,” he said.
