Why didn't the Jews have their own country before Israel?

Answer 1

On the contrary, the Jews did have their own country, in the location of modern-day Israel, but very long ago. In about 70 CE there was a Jewish rebellion against the Roman occupiers which was brutally repressed, and those Jews that survived were scattered throughout the western world as it then was. The State of Israel was established in 1948 in response to Jewish desires to have their own state in what had been the Jewish homeland all those years ago, and in response to the sufferings of Jews under the Nazi regime.

• The Patriarchs and their family had lived in the land of Israel (Canaan) for 220 years. The era from Joshua until the First Destruction (including the Judges and Kings) was 850 years. The Second Temple era was, according to traditional chronology, another 420 years (not 586), which included the Hasmonean dynasty. That's a total of 1490 years.
• After the Second Destruction, there were thousands of Jews who remained in Israel (Judea; Palestine) throughout the Talmudic era and beyond (see for example the Talmud, Sanhedrin 17b). They were the majority of Palestine's population well into the fourth century, with records attesting to at least 43 Jewish communities, most of them in the Galilee and Jordan valley. After that, there were still Yeshivas in Israel with at least some thousands of community-members.