Former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau spoke about anti-Semitism before the recent Jerusalem Conference. He cited the saying of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Gemora with a question and with his observations;
“A law: It is known that Esau hates Jacob” – and asked, “Why the unusual phraseology? What type of law can this be? It sounds very fatalistic, as if nothing can change it.” Rabbi Lau then explained, in the name of some commentators, that the phenomenon of anti-Semitism described by Rabbi Shimon is “akin to a law taught to Moses at Sinai, which also uses this word ‘law.’ It is something that has no explanation and is not in dispute, such as the fact that tefillin must be black and square. It is the same with anti-Semitism: you can look for reasons for it, but in the end, it’s just an axiom. This hatred is a given, permanent phenomenon.”