[Under these circumstances,] the external element within the people of Israel –the ignorant Jews – become stronger and overwhelm the internal element in Israel, the great Torah scholars. Similarly, the external aspect of the other nations – their destructive sides – become stronger and overwhelm the internal elements, the righteous among the gentiles. And similarly, the external elements of the entire world – the nations of the world – become stronger and overwhelm the people of Israel, who are the internal aspect of the world.
In a generation such as this one, all of the destructive elements among the nations lift their heads, and they desire primarily to destroy and kill the people of Israel, as the Sages said: “Calamity befalls the world only due to the Jewish people” (Yevamot 63a). As the Tikkunei Zohar explains above, [those calamities] include poverty, sword, theft, death, and mass murder in the entire world.