 From 1219 to 1220, most of Jerusalem was destroyed on the orders of Al-Mu'azzam Isa, who wanted to remove all Crusader fortifications in the Levant, and as a result the Jewish community, along with the majority of the rest of the population, left the city.Nachmanides, the 13th-century Spanish rabbi and recognised leader of Jewry greatly praised the land of Israel and viewed its settlement as a positive commandment incumbent on all Jews.He wrote "If the gentiles wish to make peace, we shall make peace and leave them on clear terms; but as for the land, we shall not leave it in their hands, nor in the hands of any nation, not in any generation."