Six months after the smoke cleared from the bus bombing in Burgas, the deadliest terrorist attack on European soil since 2005, Bulgarian authorities bravely identified the Hezbollah terrorist organization as its culprit. In response, the U.S. called on the international community to take "proactive" and "immediate action to crack down on Hezbollah."
While most of the world suspected Hezbollah's involvement in the Burgas bombing for months, the real shock is that Hezbollah continues to remain conspicuously absent from the European Union's list of recognized terrorist organizations. Not since Napoleon invaded Russia has the European continent seen such an astonishing lack of foresight.
Over the past 30 years, Hezbollah has murdered scores of men, women and children with the blessings of its patron saint, Iran. Hezbollah agents have racked up their share of frequent flier miles carrying out terrorist attacks on five continents, spanning from Kenya to Argentina to Greece to Thailand. U.S. servicemen have also figured quite prominently in Hezbollah's cross hairs, including the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon.
Astonishingly, despite all evidence to the contrary, the EU continues to treat Hezbollah as a charitable organization — on par with groups like Oxfam and the Red Cross. This designation greatly hinders international efforts to counter Hezbollah terrorism, and it provides Hezbollah with a veritable "washing machine" to launder every penny of its drug profits from around the world.
Some European lawmakers continue to argue that Hezbollah uses the money that it collects to provide Lebanese citizens with a better future. This is like calling al-Qaida an urban planning organization because of its desire to level tall buildings. Hezbollah uses its funds to purchase Iranian weaponry and transform the Lebanese state into an outpost for terrorism. Hezbollah's idea of investing in the next generation is to acquire 50,000 missiles — more than many NATO members possess — and stockpile them in the immediate vicinity of schools and playgrounds. It doesn't take a Nobel Peace Prize laureate to realize that this isn't exactly a selfless humanitarian organization.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah recently claimed that a large, private and independent army is necessary to defend Lebanon against Israel. On the streets of Homs, Aleppo and Damascus, however, we see that this army is far more preoccupied with butchering its Arab brothers and sisters in Syria. Hezbollah commanders have advised the Syrian military on how to slaughter civilians more effectively — and have provided arms, training and logistical support for tens of thousands of Bashar Assad's men.
Hezbollah proudly serves as the Iranian proxy for propping up the brutal Assad regime. Nasrallah an Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sit on Assad's advisory council, giving him guidance on how to mercilessly crack down on dissidents so he can cling to power. Together, these men form a "trio of terror" that threatens thousands of innocent people across the planet.
The evidence is overwhelming that those who differentiate between Hezbollah's "military" and "political" wings are guilty of a false dichotomy. This organization's sole purpose — its raison d'etre — is to commit terrorist acts inside and outside the Middle East.
How many more lives must be lost before the EU finally takes a stand against them? Nasrallah himself has claimed that a blacklist by the EU would "dry up" Hezbollah's primary source of income, and definitively "end (its) moral, political and material support." The EU should be running to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations, but instead it is dragging its feet.
The recent attack in Bulgaria is a chilling reminder that the clock is ticking. Every day that passes before the EU takes firm and decisive action against Hezbollah's activities on its soil is another day that civilians across the globe are being put at risk — from families on vacation to peacekeepers sleeping in their barracks.
The voices of the victims of terror call on us to ensure that those responsible for these crimes are denied the means to inflict more harm. One can only hope that the EU will finally find the moral courage to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization — and seize the opportunity to bankrupt the world's most dangerous "charity."
Ron Prosor is Israel's ambassador to the United Nations.