Arthur Stark, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations welcomed the announcement by the US Treasury Department that three important Hezbollah personalities were added to the list of individuals put under US economic sanctions, including, for the first time, two members of the Lebanese Parliament, Amin Sherri and Muhammad Hasan Ra’ad. The designation by the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the Treasury Department is aimed at those accused of providing support to terrorist organizations. Hezbollah was earlier designated by the administration as a terrorist organization.
In addition, Wafiq Safa, who heads the liaison and coordination unit for Hezbollah, which is responsible for collaboration with the Lebanese security agencies, was also named. The aim of the sanctions is to discourage people from doing business with Hezbollah and its supporters. Hopefully, it will lead to officials in Lebanon stopping their transactions with those named today and in the past, as well as others affiliated with Hezbollah. We hope that European countries and others will follow suit. These sanctions are an effective tool in the US arsenal for fighting terrorism. We think this message will resonate in Lebanon as it has in Iran and elsewhere where terrorist entities find support.
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