A certain fear of the nations seems to always influence political deliberations in Israel and get in the way of decisive actions. At the same time, the world can get exceedingly nervous about things that Israel does or seems to be planning to do, even if these things do not appear to affect any international interests. Why is this?



In parshat Toldot we learn a fundamental principle of history: "Two nations are in your womb; and two regimes from your insides shall be separated; and one regime shall become strong from the other regime, and the elder shall serve the younger." (Bereshit 25:23) From before birth, Jacob and Esau fight. With them, two diametrically opposite nations are born, Israel and Edom.



In Bereshit 32:25-27 we read about the mysterious wrestling of Jacob with "a man". Our sages teach that the man was the guardian angel of Esau. The wrestling lasted a whole night. As the sun rose, the righteous Jacob overpowered the evil force that came to hold him. If good is stronger than evil, why did the wrestling last so long? The answer might be that Jacob would have overcome the angel easily if only he would not have been so afraid (Bereshit 32:8). Jacob did not lack faith in HaShem, but he was bothered by his awareness of his own flaws. When Esau approached him in a threatening way, Jacob was less than certain about how his merits compared to Esau's. Having little choice, he invested his absolute trust in HaShem during the night-long encounter and overcame his fears.



The struggles between Jacob and Esau and his guardian angel foreshadow the struggle between Israel and Edom, which Israel is destined to win in the morning after the current exile. Why does the exile last so long?



The Talmud explains that the exile is characterized by a very tense status quo. On the one hand, Israel is said to have sworn to not rebel against the nations and to not return to the Land en masse. On the other hand, the nations are said to have sworn to not enslave Israel 'too much' (Ketubot 111). The oaths of the nations and Israel explain each other. They are the expression of a divinely instilled mutual fear. Israel is afraid of getting hurt physically by the apparent power of the nations and it developed an inclination to refrain from enraging them. The nations tend to not treat Israel too harshly because they fear the spiritual and physical consequences of a Jewish rebellion that would bring the Jews back to their land. Israel fears the fight and Edom fears its end. This balance of fear keeps the fight in check. It is the friction that delays the process of redemption. And it is the background of the psychological warfare around the State of Israel.



Step by step, the status quo of the exile is breaking down. Edom?s fear fades as its hatred gets stronger. The rise of the Jewish State - the materialization of Edom's fears that was the divinely decreed response to the manifestations of its hatred - fuels the hatred. As the process unfolds, the position of Jews in the Diaspora becomes increasingly precarious, as the nation is pushed towards its exalted destination in the Land of Israel. In the end, the People of Israel will be forced to put its sole trust in the God of Israel. There is no need to wait.