That's not entirely true oil&gas.
The Ancient Jews couldn't stop fighting each other. The prophets tried to mend Jewish ways but they were not listened to. Three military disasters happened, in the first the Assyrians destroyed Ancient Israel (Judea survived) with the loss of Damascus as a Jewish city. The second was the Babylonian exile. The third was the forced assimilation by the Seleucid Greeks. The Jews sent a delegation to Rome to ask for assistance. The Romans were never big on religious orthodoxy, they traded with everyone, they asked only that the Jews observe their laws in return for protection.
It worked, with Roman help the Ancient Jews under Simon Maccabes successfully revolted against the Greeks. The delegation that went to Rome never left, that is the origin of Roman Jewish culture that's survived to the present day.