You answered your own question. It was the Babylonians.
The Babylonians.
Four major events in the history of the Hebrews from Abraham's migration to the Babylonian captivity include: Abraham's covenant with God, which established the Hebrews as a chosen people; the Exodus, where Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and received the Ten Commandments; the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel under King Saul, followed by King David’s unification of the tribes and the construction of the First Temple by Solomon; and finally, the Babylonian captivity, which resulted from the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II, leading to the exile of many Hebrews to Babylon.
Yes, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and enslaved the Hebrews.
Cyrus, king of Persia, issued an edict inviting the Jews to return to their land from the Babylonian Captivity.
Jerusalem was destroyed for the first time in 586 BCE and again in 70 CE.
Yes. Modern Judaism, rabbinic Judaism, grew from the Judaism of the rabbis in the great academies of first millennium Babylon and Palestine (where the Talmud was written). These academies were founded by students of the Pharisees after Rome destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, and with it the sacrificial cult of the Temple. The Temple, in turn, was rebuilt after the end of the Babylonian Captivity by Jews returning from Babylon. The Temple in Jerusalem was originally founded as a home for the sacrificial rituals described in the Torah, which was the Holy book of the Hebrews at the time they occupied Jerusalem. Note, of course, that this is the evolution of a religion. I strongly suspect that the Pharisees of 2000 years ago would be as surprised by modern Judaism (in any of its forms) as Paul the Apostle would be surprised by modern Christianity (in any of its forms).
Cyrus the Great, the Persian king, allowed the Hebrews to return to Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile. This event is documented in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Ezra, and took place around 538 BCE. Cyrus issued a decree that not only permitted the return but also encouraged the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, marking a significant moment in Jewish history.
Titus led the attack on Israel that eventually destroyed Jerusalem and caused the Jews to be sent into exile for 1,878 years.
Jerusalem
There were a number of different Ancient Israelite and Judean capital cities, such as Gibeah, Hebron, Jerusalem, Shiloh, Samaria, etc. Additionally, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah were two separate countries which (naturally) each maintained a distinct capital.
Jerusalem
jerusalem