RIGHT under our noses, momentous things are happening in the world. Obviously I’m not talking about the coronavirus pandemic here, but other profoundly significant events that the virus overshadows or is in danger of distracting global attention away from.

China’s approval of a national security law for Hong Kong is one such event, rightly highlighted in The National earlier this week by SNP shadow foreign secretary Alyn Smith. Another is what Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday described as the “historic opportunity” to annex Palestinian land in the West Bank, a move that could happen as early as July 1.

The fact that Netanyahu is now in something of a hurry should come as no surprise. In part it’s because he’s currently on trial for bribery and corruption, the first sitting prime minister in the country’s history to be charged with a crime. Cementing Israel’s grip on the West Bank, he knows will help appease some of his critics at home, of which there is no shortage right now.

“This is an opportunity that we will not let pass,” insisted Netanyahu last week, revealing yet another even more significant reason for his haste.

In short, it’s that Netanyahu also knows how uncertain it is that he can rely on his overseas patron US President Donald Trump, who might lose power in November’s US election.

As things stand, of course, the West Bank is already annexed in all but name. Palestinians have no sovereignty or control of vital resources, such as electricity and water, while facing ever increasing constraints on their freedom of movement. For them the entire West Bank represents the heartland of a future independent state. Israel’s annexing large chunks of this territory would all but destroy the remaining hopes of those Palestinians seeking a two-state solution.

In other words the stakes could not be higher for them as a people and aspiring nation.

Many looking on from outside recognise this, too. While the Arab League has condemned Israel’s proposed annexation as a war crime, individual countries have voiced everything from quiet concern to outrage.

Earlier this month, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, during an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel, gave an indication of just how potentially explosive Israel’s move could be. “If Israel really annexed the West Bank valley in July, it would lead to a massive conflict with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,” he warned.

Even regional influencer Saudi Arabia, a country that maintains discreet relations with Israel, announced its “rejection of the Israeli measures and plans to annex Palestinian lands”.

As for the United States, meanwhile, despite a growing partisan divide over Israel in Washington, what you see is what you get. Trump will not oppose Israel’s moves, especially not in a US presidential election year.

Which brings me to Europe and the EU in particular, for whom the two-state solution has underpinned its own Israeli-Palestinian policies for the best part of three decades.

So far, the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has been pretty unequivocal in his response, insisting that Israel’s annexation plans would violate international law and that “all our diplomatic capacities” would be used by the EU to stop it.

If such a vow sounds familiar then it’s because it is. For years now, Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law over its settlement programme in the West Bank has been flaunted in the face of the EU and wider international community while they have done next to nothing about it.

In the face of persistent evidence of human rights abuses and apartheid policies carried out by Israel, the EU has usually only cautioned or threatened to take actions that never materialise.

IS it any wonder then that many Palestinians have lost faith in the EU’s capacity to bring its influence and pressure to bear in real terms against Israel’s actions and holding them truly accountable?

An assertive Israel is all too aware of these diplomatic shortcomings on Europe’s behalf.

Those in Israel’s corridors of power, such as Netanyahu, have come to realise how easy it is to weather European opprobrium and routinely dismiss the idea that real pressure might be forthcoming.

A bit of short-term bluster and outrage and Europe will quickly forget about us annexing the West Bank, goes the prevailing thinking. They forgot about us annexing East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, they forgot about us effectively imprisoning millions of Palestinians in Gaza, so they will forget again in time about anything else we do – so their thinking goes on.

“The all-clear has sounded for those who were worried: Israel can annex the West Bank as much as it wants – Europe will not stand in its way,” wrote columnist Gideon Levy of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz earlier this month.

“Anyone who thought they could strike fear into our hearts over Europe’s reaction to annexation forgot what Europe is, how paralysed it is, how coerced, fearful, divided and helpless it is in the face of Israel,” continued Levy in mock reassurance to his readers

and fellow Israelis.

Voices like Levy’s, who ask for Europe to take a tougher stand in holding Israel to account and bring real pressure to bear in pursuit of that process, are not as rare as might be thought. Just as Palestinians are sick and tired of a situation that goes from bad to worse, so, too, do many Israelis hanker after some respite from this seemingly interminable stand-off. Netanyahu’s aim of annexing the West Bank however will certainly not bring that respite, far from it.

All the more reason then that the EU must stand its ground this time over the annexation issue. To some extent, the group admittedly remains hamstrung by those among its members, such as Hungary, that steadfastly ally themselves with Israel.

It’s been said that the EU is united in opposing Israel’s plan but divided in what to do about it. While some call for a tougher line, including possible sanctions, others have as usual simply urged caution.

The EU needs to find a way out of this impasse and fast. If it doesn’t the implications of West Bank annexation for Palestinians – and indeed Israelis – will be profoundly damaging and long term.

As Gideon Levy says: “Thanks to Europe, four-and-a-half million Palestinians will continue to suffocate, while Brussels will go on patting itself on the back and feeling good about itself.”

As Netanyahu’s new onslaught against Palestinians gets under way, Europe must do more than mouth expressions of concern. It’s time for action with real diplomatic bite and economic teeth.