From Alternative History

After anti-Jewish pogroms in North Africa, a delegation of rabbis approached emperor Alessandro I in 1835. He offered the Jews a home at the Sinai, as close to biblical Israel as possible without moving right in, to form a buffer against the Persian empire and to guard the Suez canal which was built during 1832-39. This marked the beginning the new Jewish state. (This was not completely un-selfish: The Jewish traders can be replaced by Italians, thus strengthening their influence.)

During the 1840s, many Jews from the Seljuk republic left for the Sinai, where they could live under the protection of New Rome. In 1847, emperor Benedetto had the new state of Judea proclaimed, giving the Jews officially independence. In return for this help, Judea fought in the anti-Persian War. As a result, the Negev, Aqaba and Petra were ceded to the Jewish state.