US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE423

S E C R E T THE HAGUE 000423 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/15/2015 
TAGS: ETTC, PTER, EFIN, NL, EUN 
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/HIZBALLAH - DUTCH SUPPORT DESIGNATION 
AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION 
 
REF: SECSTATE 26062 
 
Classified By: Herbert Traub, Acting Political Counselor, for reasons 1 
.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Jules Gerzon (MFA, Office of Political Affairs) 
confirmed that the Netherlands supports designating Hizballah 
as a terrorist organization at the February 16 meeting of the 
EU Clearinghouse.  Dutch efforts to lobby EU Member States 
have had a mixed reaction, he added, noting that some states 
merely "take note" of the Dutch message and say they will 
make up their own minds. Others ask for more "legal proof" or 
"hard evidence."  The case is yet to be made to them, and to 
the EU 10, he said. 
 
2.  (S)  Gerzon said the Dutch ultimately came to the 
decision on Hizballah because of "convincing evidence 
gathered by their own secret service."  That Hizballah had 
"welcomed the terrorist acts of others" was by itself almost 
enough evidence to convince the Dutch, he said, considering 
that "at high levels the political and military wings of 
Hizballah  are intrinsically connected." He noted that 
Hizballah "had not admitted direct responsibility for 
terrorist acts like Hammas had done," so some in the EU still 
"look for hard evidence of their complicity."  The Dutch have 
"shared the basis for their conclusions with other EU 
partners," he revealed, adding "it has not been enough to 
convince those who seek harder proof."  He suggested it would 
be helpful at this juncture if the "USG could provide any new 
hard evidence to service counterparts in EU Member States" in 
order to make the case. 
 
3.  (C)  Gerzon revealed that some EU States are arguing that 
"now is not the time" to designate Hizballah since it could 
"negatively affect the movement in the Middle East peace 
process."  Finally, he said that the new EU10 are still 
considering their positions on this matter and have "remained 
quiet up to now" in EU discussions. He suggested they might 
welcome any additional information the USG could provide. 
SOBEL