Last week, Israeli archaeologists announced the discovery of a clay seal bearing the name of Hezekiah son of Ahaz, who was king of Judea in the 8th century BCE. The seal, which experts believe to be authentic, includes a depiction of a winged sun, a common motif of contemporary Egyptian religious imagery. Joshua Berman argues that Hezekiah’s use of this symbol does not conflict with the Bible’s statement that the king broke with the idolatry of his predecessors:

It is true that the winged sun is a symbol of an ancient Egyptian deity. However, both the sun and the motif of protective wings [were common] symbols across the ancient Near East. In fact, we find them amply attested within the Bible itself, in both profane and sacral references. The sun is [used as] a metaphor for strength. . . . Wings are a symbol of protection. . . . It is no surprise, therefore, that each of these images can describe God as well. . . .

The image of the winged sun is clear in Hezekiah’s seal. Less clear is what it precisely symbolizes. Is the sun here a representation of God? . . . Or, perhaps, the might of Hezekiah himself? . . . It is difficult to say. What is clear is that the symbol in no way suggests that Hezekiah worshipped an Egyptian deity. Were that case, the very name on the seal would read “Ḥezek-Amun” or “Ḥezek-Re” [i.e., “strength of Amun” or “strength of Ra”]. Ḥizki-yahu [“my strength is God”] leaves no doubts as to this monarch’s loyalties.

Two extraordinary events demonstrate something important about Israel’s most fervent adversaries. One was a speech given at something called The People’s Forum (funded generously by Goldman Sachs), which stated, “When the state of Israel is finally destroyed and erased from history, that will be the single most important blow we can give to destroying capitalism and imperialism.”

The suggestion that this tiny state is the linchpin of a global, centuries-old phenomenon like capitalism goes well beyond anything resembling rational criticism. Even if Israel were guilty of genocide, apartheid, and oppression—which of course it is not—it would not follow that its destruction would help end capitalism or imperialism.

The other was an anti-Israel protest that took place in front of New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, deemed “complicit” in Israel’s evils. At organizers’ urging, participants shouted their slogans at kids in the cancer ward, who were watching from the windows. Given Hamas’s indifference toward the lives of Gazan children, such callousness toward non-Palestinian children from Hamas’s Western allies shouldn’t be surprising. The protest—like the abovementioned speech—deliberately conveyed the message that Israel is the ultimate evil and its destruction the ultimate good, cancer patients be damned.

The fact that Israel’s adversaries are almost comically perverse does not mean that they can be dismissed. If its allies fail to understand the obsessive and irrational hatred that it faces, they cannot effectively help it defend itself.