Treating "Israel" and "the Jewish people" as synonyms is not a good idea. The whole idea of "Jewish civilization" or "Israelite civilization," like the idea that Jerusalem, Jaffa, etc. are "their former cities," is best avoided, in my opinion.
I disagree somewhat about ancient Israel. It's true that, in the big scheme of things, all they really gave the world was Judaism, but in their time they had some notable achievements. What lasting impact did the Huns have on the world? Or Carthage? Even if it weren't for Judaism, ancient Israel would be notable, as the Huns and Carthage were, for their wars against Rome. They have good leaders, at least one decent UU possibility (Maccabees), plenty of UB and UA options—I think they could make a fun civilization.
All that said, they're very low on my list. And I would never in a million years have added the Huns to a Civ game if I were in charge.
And I see that while I was typing, Israel was proscribed. Whoops.
I disagree somewhat about ancient Israel. It's true that, in the big scheme of things, all they really gave the world was Judaism, but in their time they had some notable achievements. What lasting impact did the Huns have on the world? Or Carthage? Even if it weren't for Judaism, ancient Israel would be notable, as the Huns and Carthage were, for their wars against Rome. They have good leaders, at least one decent UU possibility (Maccabees), plenty of UB and UA options—I think they could make a fun civilization.
All that said, they're very low on my list. And I would never in a million years have added the Huns to a Civ game if I were in charge.
And I see that while I was typing, Israel was proscribed. Whoops.