I wouldn't mind if they did that, but I can see that being a hot bed of trouble for them if they did. Maybe King David or the Maccabees they could get by with, but any leaders from more recent times would definitely cause trouble for them.

David or Solomon, David seems like the go to.
I don't see why it would be trouble.

I dig the King David idea.

It's a shame that no Civ game until has had either the ancient or modern kingdom/nation of Israel. There's always the modders, of course, but I'd like for the devs to just take this bold leap and add Israel (and if they want to avoid bad press, opt for the ancient option).

And Israel was dominating Civilization in what era?
That is the biggest problem to most civs… they are not big/powerfull enough to be implemented in the games.
Israel in civ is not impossible, it is just very unlike. But you can make a mod where Israel is a civ in one era.

I think it is too late to have them included. With the civ change feature of VII, you'd play the hebrews simply to see them turning into arabs or germans.

This feature is truly one of the worst ideas I remember in gaming history, and probably coming straight from politics... if not, what else.

I said the Maccabees in an earlier reply. I forget, the Maccabees were never rulers of Israel, they rulers of Judea.

bibi is the best choice