With the release of the Trump peace plan, Israeli communities in the ancient Jewish heartland seemed poised to be absorbed into the modern Jewish state. Annexation, even in partial form, prevents Jews from being evicted from their homes and rules out a porous Jordanian-Palestinian boundary. Many Israelis are in favor, while others are opposed.

Right on cue, the European Union (EU) has erupted volcano-like, spewing threats against Israel should even limited annexation occur.

For more than a month, the EU has been leading a “diplomatic push” to stop Israel from pursuing annexation, for which EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell claims to have enlisted “all diplomatic capacities.” Heading into a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council this past May, Borrell declared Israel’s annexation plans “the most important item on the agenda.” Imagine that. There is a global pandemic that has killed hundreds of thousands of people the world over. But the EU’s foremost issue on this day was tiny Israel and preventing its annexation plans.

Throughout this “diplomatic push,” Assad’s genocidal war still rages on in Syria, with Russia’s support. Turkey, an EU-member hopeful, beyond hunting Kurds in Idlib, has launched airstrikes in Iraq and supported insurgencies in Libya and Yemen. China threatens India, as North Korea escalates tensions with the South. Iran, significantly, blocked the IAEA from inspecting its nuclear sites. And yet, the EU marches on with its unceasing obsession with Israel.

In a sanctimonious speech given last week, the EU foreign minister offered one especially questionable rationale: Borrell claimed the EU opposed annexation in part because it would “negatively affect … potentially, the security of Israel, which is something non-negotiable for us.”

Following the Holocaust, classic European antisemitism died down. But European anti-Jewishness has been reborn in its diplomatic bias against Israel. While economic cooperation with Israel has surged, politically, most of Europe remains anti-Israel. In the media as at the UN, whether through sharp condemnations or boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses in “disputed territories” — too many leading European diplomats have made Israel-bashing their policy of choice. Recently, Israel’s mistrust has been reinforced by the EU’s rise as the Western world’s foremost apologist for Iran. And the Jewish community, globally, is losing trust in Brussels’ resolve to protect Jews living within the EU.

Thus, it’s inherently insulting, if not entirely laughable, that the EU would even dare tell a country that actually protects Jews how exactly they should do it. Worse, though, is Europe’s insistence that it meddles with Israel’s security for the sake of Israel’s security.

Suspiciously, it’s only on the topic of annexation that Borrell suddenly finds Israel’s security “non-negotiable.” What about Iran? Over the first few months of 2020, Iran upped weapons-grade uranium production while continuing to threaten Israel. After receiving Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif in Brussels in January, Borrell personally visited Tehran in February to meet President Rouhani and parliament president Ali Larijani. Of course, Israel’s security couldn’t have mattered that much to Borrell since he refused to so much as stop in Israel to hear their security concerns. Instead, he visited Jordan — to help them thwart the “other threat” to Israel’s security — the annexation movement.

In the months since, he’s proven himself arguably the most powerful international pro-Iran lobbyist on earth. When the Trump administration announced in late May it was ending the waivers that had allowed some European businesses to sidestep sanctions on Iran, Borrell condemned the move. A few weeks ago, when the US announced its push for an indefinite UN conventional arms embargo on Tehran, Borrell joined Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in defending Iran’s right to buy weapons — even as those weapons find themselves all over the Middle East, and particularly on Israel’s doorstep.

While their foreign office huffs and puffs, EU member states are less decided as to how they’ll respond to an Israeli annexation bid. Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic seem OK with annexation. Germany, for one, has indicated it won’t support sanctions against Israel. But others have insisted on a harder line: European elder statesman Jean Asselborn, veteran foreign minister of little Luxembourg, has already called on Europe to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state on Israel’s 1967 borders. Like Borrell, EU foreign policy guru Asselborn’s eyes swirl when he’s talking about Israel.

In an absolutely repulsive interview, Asselborn invoked the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” to warn Israel against absorbing Judaism’s oldest and holiest lands — apparently oblivious to the fact that the Jewish holy book, which predates every other nation on earth, literally proves their ancient claim to these lands.

Ultimately, the debate surrounding annexation is legitimate, as is the concern expressed by several settler leaders that the Trump plan could lead to a Palestinian state. Still, what’s completely illegitimate is Europe’s chiming-in. On matters of Jewish security, it would be wise of Europe to follow another of the Ten Commandments, namely number nine: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, “America’s Rabbi,” whom The Washington Post calls “the most famous Rabbi in America,” is the international bestselling author of 30 books, including the forthcoming Holocaust Holiday: One Family’s Descent into Genocide Memory Hell. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @RabbiShmuley.

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