According to the biblical account, the kings Saul, David, and Solomon ruled over all twelve tribes of Israel; after Solomon’s death, their kingdom split into two rival states—Judea in the south and Israel in the north. One of the enduring arguments among historians of this period is whether the “united monarchy” ever existed. While conclusive evidence remains to be found, a recent excavation lends credence, in the eyes of some, to the Bible’s version of events, as Owen Jarus writes:

Archaeologists have discovered a sprawling, possibly 3,000-year-old house. . . . The archaeologists who excavated the house, at a site now called Tel Eton, [argue] that the date, design, and size of the house indicates that a strong organized government existed at Tel Eton around 3,000 years ago. They added that this government may be the united monarchy. The site is located in the central part of Israel in a region called the Shefelah. . . .

Before construction of the house began, a 3,200-year-old chalice was buried in what archaeologists call a foundation deposit. To confirm when the house was constructed, the archaeologists radiocarbon-dated four artifacts—a piece of charcoal found near the chalice, another piece of charcoal found within the remains of a floor above the chalice, and two olive pits found within the remains of the house’s floor.

The house is oriented toward the east and . . . is divided into four areas—three long spaces at the front and a long space in the back—that are then subdivided. Israelites frequently built houses with this type of design; non-Israelites did not. . . . Additionally, the archaeologists found that Tel Eton was fortified around 3,000 years ago, something they believe strengthens their argument that a powerful government existed at Tel Eton. They also point out that other sites dating back 3,000 years ago have been found in Israel that could be connected to the united monarchy, including Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified hilltop city located nineteen miles southwest of Jerusalem.

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.