When he enquired, he realised they were Jews, lamenting the destruction of their first and second temples in Jerusalem. Author Simon Sebag Montefiore of Jerusalem: The Biography (2011) says, “The story of Jerusalem is the story of the world”. While King Nebuchadnezzar II exiled Jews and destroyed Solomon’s temple, King Herod, though a tyrant, rebuilt the temple. Philanthropists Anglo-Jewish Moses Montefiore and French Edmond de Rothschild, his brother-in-law, would buy land, start banks and encourage people to take up agriculture. The European diaspora slowly began returning to their land.

Source: Indian Express September 27, 2016 18:33 UTC