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| Terror Networks | |||
| Hezbollah nearly bankrupt, but Nasrallah awash in cash — report | |||
| 2017-05-03 | |||
[IsraelTimes] German daily says military involvement in Syria and US sanctions have forced terror group to increasingly rely on illicit schemes to raise money.
According to a report Friday in the German daily Die Welt, Hezbollah’s increasing financial difficulties have led the group to increasingly rely on a number illicit schemes to earn money, including money laundering, drug trafficking and counterfeiting, as well as through its substantial property holdings. Despite $1 billion in aid that Israeli security officials estimate Hezbollah receives each year from its patron Iran, which is said to cover some 70 percent of the group’s annual finances, the increasing financial toll from its military involvement in Syria and lack of additional assistance from Tehran has forced the group to resort to extorting not only its "donors" in the country, but also Lebanese expatriates in Africa, South America, Europe and the United States, according to the report. The blackmail has reportedly led to discontent within the Shiite group’s ranks and among its supporters, as Lebanese Shiites in the country have been forced into selling their assets and property in order to prop up Hezbollah and fund its operations.
While the fighting in Syria has greatly strained the group’s finances, the imposition of US sanctions last year on Lebanese banks that do business with the terror group is also said to have taken a toll, as Shiite businessmen in Leb have become increasingly reluctant to work with Hezbollah out of fear of American reprisal.
Despite its monetary troubles, Hezbollah has not cut funding for the extensive social programs it provides to large segments of Leb’s Shiite community or the payments it provides to the families of dead and injured fighters so as not to risk alienating the group’s support base. Die Welt also reported that members of the terror group’s leadership have used Hezbollah funds for their own enrichment despite its dire fiscal situation, including the son of the organization’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is said to have taken money to fund a chain of coffee houses in Beirut. In addition, Nasrallah himself is said to be worth some $250 million, according to Die Welt. In a speech last year, Nasrallah brushed off reports that the group was in dire financial straits, saying that money was continuing to pour in from Tehran. "We are open about the fact that Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from the Islamic Theocratic Republicof Iran," he said in June. Iran was instrumental in Hezbollah’s inception three decades ago and has provided financial and military support to the group. "As long as Iran has money, we have money... Just as we receive the rockets that we use to threaten Israel, we are receiving our money. No law will prevent us from receiving it," Nasrallah added. | |||
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 other sources indicate the Hezbollah financing situation, while serious is not approaching bankruptcy Hezbollah has however, been expanding their fundraising activities - a recent addition is the "Fund a mujihad" campaign where a donor pledges a monthly sum to keep a Hezbollah fighter equipped and you get an autographed photo of the guns and ammo. It is, in some sense, similar to many US non profits which promote monthly contributions (e.g., PBS) |
| Posted by: lord garth 2017-05-03 10:32 |