There have been increased attempts to rewrite history and claim that Jews are “foreign occupiers” with no connection to the land of Israel since October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre, which claimed the lives of over 1,400 Israelis and international nationals and left over 220 hostages.
Spreading falsehoods include the claim that Israel is a settler-colonial state in an attempt to erode its legitimacy. Promoters of this falsehood contend that Zionists, or proponents of Jewish national homeland and self-determination, came to colonize and steal the land from the Palestinians starting in the late nineteenth century.
They also claim that Jews have no historical ties to the land of Israel. Nonetheless, this assertion disregards the profound and millennia-old bond that exists between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
These are five interesting facts on the lengthy history of Jewish ancestry in the land of Israel.
1. Jews Have Had a Continuous Presence in the Land of Israel
The Jewish people have always lived in the land of Israel, even though the Romans drove out the majority of them in 70 CE. During the years of Jewish exile, some Jews settled around the globe and formed the Jewish diaspora, while others stayed in Israel.
Specifically, throughout the most part of this time, there were Jewish communities in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed (Tzfat), and Tiberias—also referred to as the Four Holy Cities. Most revered is Jerusalem, which is home to the Western Wall.
Hebron has a connection to the Cave of the Patriarchs, which is the customary resting place of numerous significant Biblical people. In the sixteenth century, Safed emerged as the hub of Jewish mysticism. The Jerusalem Talmud from the Byzantine era makes Tiberias famous.
2. Israel Was Under Jewish Leadership for Hundreds of Years in Antiquity
The history of the ancient land of Israel encompasses many centuries in which the Jewish people ruled the region. A single Jewish monarchy ruled over the entirety of Israel starting in 1000 BCE, marking the start of the Iron Age, under the leadership of King Saul, David, and Solomon.
The so-called Unified Kingdom split in 931 BCE into the Northern Kingdom (Israel), whose capital is Samaria, and the Southern Kingdom (Judah), which had its capital in Jerusalem. The Jewish people continued to control both countries.
The Assyrian Empire subjugated the Northern Kingdom in 722 BCE, driving out the majority of its people. Meanwhile, the Jews continued to dominate the Southern Kingdom until 586 BCE, when the Babylonian Empire subjugated it and drove out even more Jews.
In the second century BCE, the Jews emerged from their exile under the Persian Empire and took back control of the region under the Hasmonean dynasty. In 63 BCE, Judea, as it was then known, became a client state of Rome, and the Herodian dynasty—a Jewish dynasty under Rome’s rule—took power.
The Romans demolished Jerusalem and drove out a large number of Judean Jews in 70 CE. The city of Jerusalem and the two great Temples that previously stood there have special significance in biblical tales and Jewish history.
These kingdoms played essential roles in defining Jewish history, religious traditions, and cultural identity.
3. Jerusalem is the Holiest Site in the Jewish Faith
For millennia, Jerusalem has served as the spiritual, religious, and national hub of the Jewish people. Jerusalem became Israel’s capital city about three millennia ago, during the reign of King David. The two great Temples, the focal points of Jewish devotion for hundreds of years, were located in Jerusalem.
When the Babylonian Empire besieged Jerusalem in 586 BCE, they flattened the sacred city and forcibly banished Judeans from the Kingdom of Judah. King Solomon had constructed the first Temple in the tenth century BCE.
Less than a century later, the Romans demolished the second Temple and drove out the majority of the Jewish population. They also destroyed the Jewish city. The destruction of the Temple had a significant effect on Jewish beliefs.
Jerusalem remained essential to Jewish life even after the Second Temple was destroyed and the Jews were driven from the land; in fact, it is essential even now. Jews always face Jerusalem when they pray, no matter where they are.
For Jews, the holiest place on earth is the Western Wall, the last wall of the Second Temple still standing. The groom customarily breaks a glass at Jewish weddings in remembrance of the Temple’s destruction. Jews say, “Next year in Jerusalem!” at the conclusion of the Passover Seder.
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4. While in Exile Jews Never Stopped Yearning to Return to Israel
The Jewish people, though dispersed around the globe at different times in history, remained deeply connected to the country of Israel via prayer, religion, and the unwavering hope of a final return. Jewish prayers on a daily basis often reference the desire of diaspora Jews to return to the Jewish homeland and the holy city of Jerusalem.
According to conventional Jewish religious belief, God had punished the Jews by driving them from their homeland. Only in the Messianic era would they be able to return. For the most part, this ideology prevented Jews from considering returning to Israel.
However, when antisemitism and acts of violence against European Jews increased in the 19th century, a new ideology known as Zionism—a national liberation movement for the Jewish people—was established.
Zionists believed that the way to deliver the Jewish people from hundreds of years of persecution was for them to return to their ancestral homeland. In the late nineteenth century, small groups of Zionist pioneers started to return to their ancestral homeland and join the community of Jews who had never left.
Since its founding in 1948, the State of Israel has served as the focal point of Jewish identity and culture for millions of Jews across the globe, fulfilling the long-held hope of a Jewish homeland. Many view Israel as a symbol of Jewish self-determination, a haven from the outside world, and a cultural revival.
5. Israel Plays a Central Role in the Bible
The Bible makes reference to the land of Israel, which is significant to Judaism. God made the land of Israel promise to Abraham, the first Jew, in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God later reiterates this promise to Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob. Actually, Jacob goes by another name, Israel.
In the Book of Exodus, Moses promises to return the Israelites to the land of Israel, their ancestral home, after leading them out of slavery and persecution in Egypt. Archaeological discoveries and sources from Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia have confirmed the historical accuracy of numerous episodes found in the books of Judges and Kings, which recount the tales of Jewish kings over Israel.
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