Germany’s Ban of Hezbollah: A Half-Measure
Germany’s ban on Hezbollah is a compromise measure between German lawmakers who want to take a harder line against Iran and those who do not. The ban appears aimed at providing the German government with political cover that allows Germany to claim that it has fully banned the group even if it has not.
Germany’s Ban of Hezbollah: A Half-Measure
Soeren Kern | Gatestone Institute | May 2, 2020
The German government, after years of equivocating, has announced what amounts to a partial ban on the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah — Arabic for “The Party of Allah” — in Germany.
The so-called ban — supported by the center-right Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats, the two parties that make up Germany’s ruling coalition, and also by the classical liberal Free Democrats — has been hailed as “important,” “significant,” and “long overdue.”
The ban is in fact a compromise measure between German lawmakers who want to take a harder line against Iran and those who do not. As a result, the ban falls far short of a complete prohibition on Hezbollah and appears aimed at providing the German government with political cover that allows Germany to claim that it has banned the group even if it has not.
