Netanyahu: We expect the EU to put Hamas back on the terror blacklist immediately

 

Netanyahu responded to the decision by saying that Israel was “not satisfied” with the explanations of the EU that Hamas\’s removal is only a technical matter.

 

According to the “technical issue” argument, Hamas was removed from the list because the evidence used to place the organization on the list did not meet European standards. Two central EU countries have already been working on a dossier providing the court with the evidence that will satisfy it.

 

“The burden of proof is on the EU and we expect them to immediately return Hamas to the list where everyone realizes they should be,” Netanyahu said. “Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization whose charter says that its aim is to destroy Israel. We will continue to fight it with determination and strength so that it will never realize its aims. "

 

Other MKs and ministers were more critical in their reactions to the EU decision.

 

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said that if anyone thinks that sacrificing Israel can save Europe, they are mistaken.

 

"The corrupt law of the EU court gives license for the shedding of Jewish blood everywhere and demonstrates the loss of a moral path," he said. 

 

"Israel is strong and can defend itself from its enemies, but Europe itself will be the one to suffer from the strengthening of terrorist organizations," he added. 

 

Bennett said that terror which receives a justification in Tel Aviv will quickly spread to London, Paris and Brussels.

 

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said that the European Union "must have lost its mind." Edelstein said that the decision displays "inflexibility, moral distortion and grants a prize to the extremist Islamic terror that is currently plaguing the entire world, including Europe itself."

 

The Knesset speaker said that he hopes the "injustice" will be remedied quickly.

 

Labor MK Nachman Shai accused the court of hypocrisy, saying that "the body responsible for justice should know that Hamas does not deserve the benfit of the doubt, even for one minute.

 

"Terror is terror is terror. In the undending struggle against it, as has been brought to light recently in Australia and Pakistan,any concession is a sign of weakness. Eurpe must put Hamas back on the terror black list immediately," he said.

 

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said that the decision demonstrated the EU\’s disconnect from reality. 

 

"Hamas, which is responsible for hundreds of dead Israeli citizens, and which trains three-year-old children with weapons, and has taken all of the residents of Gaza as a human shield is the father of all terrorist organizations," she said.

 

"Whoever legitimizes an organization like this, lends a hand to terror," she added. 

 

Likud MK Danny Danon said that "the Europeans must believe that there blood is more sacred than the blood of the Jews which they see as unimportant – that is the only way to explain the EU court\’s decision to remove Hamas from the terror blacklist," he said.

 

"In Europe they must have forgotten that Hamas kidnapped three boys and fired thousands of rockets last summer at Israeli citizens," he added.