Few people are sufficiently proud or righteous to refuse asserting themselves at others’ expense. For most people, fear is provocative. A typical man feels the urge to strike a weak person who doesn’t implore for his help. Men reassert themselves by domination, and push the others as much as possible until encountering or expecting to encounter resistance. They eagerly accept the weaklings who plead for master-vassal relationship. Such weaklings are provided benevolent protection. But Jews constitute the case of weaklings who remain staunchly different, thus independent. Jews submit without being submissive. Jews never accept the strongman’s authority as absolute because they have their own ideas. Yet Jews are weak and fearful. The Jews’ fearfulness provokes anti-Semitism. All of us have seen a similar situation in schools: the weakest children are despised and often kicked. Even the otherwise decent classmates sometimes cannot resist the urge to kick that weakling. They do so to reassert themselves, but also as a means of punishment. Frightful weakness offends or at least irritates the bystanders because it presumes them hostile and ill-wishing. Fearful weakness also switches the cognitive framework: people are used to the situations when others fear them for a reason, being guilty and expecting punishment. A fearful person is subconsciously seen as guilty, deserving punishment.

Many minorities are weak, but Jews are also fearful because they historically lacked institutional protection. In most cases, Jews are institutionally oppressed rather than simply left unprotected. They have a good reason to fear. But fear prompts oppression and builds on itself.

Rare nations, such as the proud populations of Caucasus mountains, harbor no anti-Semitism. For most nations, Israeli weakness, her suing for peace fits into the cognitive framework of fear and irresistibly provokes for anti-Semitism.