According to a tradition that dates back to the 9th century CE—and may be Christian or Muslim in origin, although it is shared by Jews as well—King David’s tomb is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Although most archaeologists reject the accuracy of this tradition, they have found the site a fruitful one for excavation, as evidenced by the recent discovery of an inscription connected to a famed 15th-century Swiss warrior. Nicky Blackburn writes:

Adrian von Bubenberg . . . came on pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1466, and on his visit either he or his son—also called Adrian—left a charcoal inscription of his name and family emblem on a wall in Jerusalem. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) discovered the inscription while carrying out an archaeological survey on Mount Zion to document ancient graffiti by Muslim and Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem.

So far, they have revealed more than 40 inscriptions in different languages, as well as the family emblems of medieval knights.

“In the Mamluk period, between 1332-1551, the building complex adjacent to the traditional tomb of King David was owned by the monks of the Franciscan Catholic Order” said Michael Chernin and Shai Halevi of the IAA, who headed the project. “The building served as a monastery and a hostel for the Western pilgrims, who left their mark on the walls.”

Bubenberg, who is considered a national hero in Switzerland, was born to a noble family in 1424, and—after long service as the mayor of Bern—gained fame in 1476 when he led the Swiss Confederate army to victory against Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, in the battle of Murten.

While the far left and the extreme right have responded with frenzied outrage to Israel’s attacks on Iran, middle-of-the-road, establishment types have expressed similar sentiments, only in more measured tones. These think-tankers and former officials generally believe that Israeli military action, rather than nuclear-armed murderous fanatics, is the worst possible outcome. Garry Kasparov examines this mode of thinking:

Now that the Islamic Republic is severely weakened, the alarmist foreign-policy commentariat is apprising us of the unacceptable risks, raising their well-worn red flags. (Or should I say white flags?) “Escalation!” “Global war!” And the ultimate enemy of the status quo: “regime change!”

Under President Obama, American officials frequently stared down the nastiest offenders in the international rogues’ gallery and insisted that there was “no military solution.” “No military solution” might sound nice to enlightened ears. Unfortunately, it’s a meaningless slogan. Tellingly, Russian officials repeat it all the time too. . . . But Russia does believe there are military solutions to its problems—ask any Ukrainian, Syrian, or Georgian. Yet too many in Washington remain determined to fight armed marauders with flowery words.

If you are worried about innocent people being killed, . . . spare a thought for the millions of Iranians who face imprisonment, torture, or death if they dare deviate from the strict precepts of the Islamic Revolution. Or the hundreds of thousands of Syrians whose murder Iran was an accomplice to. Or the Ukrainian civilians who have found themselves on the receiving end of over 8,000 Iranian-made suicide drones over the past three years. Or the scores of Argentine Jews blown up in a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in 1994 without even the thinnest of martial pretexts.

The Democratic Connecticut senator Chris Murphy was quick and confident in his pronouncement that Israel’s operation in Iran “risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America.” Maybe. But a regional war was already underway before Israel struck last week. Iran was already supporting the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, Hizballah in Lebanon, and Russia in Ukraine. Israel is simply moving things toward a more decisive conclusion.

Perhaps Murphy and his ilk dread most being proved wrong—which they will be if, in a few weeks’ time, their apocalyptic predictions haven’t come true, and the Middle East, though still troubled, is a safter place.