As Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff mediate Middle East peace, questions resurface about the age-old role of the “Court Jew” — loyal servant or conflicted power broker?
For centuries, Jewish history has been marked by an enduring question — can a Jew serve in the court of non-Jewish rulers and remain loyal to the covenant of Israel? Today, that ancient dilemma echoes once again as President Donald Trump’s two trusted Jewish envoys — Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — take center stage in shaping peace efforts across the Middle East.
Their high-profile missions, backed by billions in shared business interests with Gulf monarchies, have revived the historical archetype of the “Court Jew” — a term as old as Pharaoh’s Egypt and as controversial as modern diplomacy itself.
📜 Ancient Roots of a Timeless Role
The phenomenon dates back to the Bible itself. Joseph, sold into slavery, rose to become Pharaoh’s chief administrator — the original “Court Jew” — saving Egypt and his own people through divine foresight. Moses too lived as Egyptian royalty before turning his back on the empire to defend his enslaved Hebrew brethren. Daniel served the kings of Babylon and Persia with unbending faith. Esther and Mordechai risked everything in the Persian court to save their nation from Haman’s genocidal decree — a scriptural reminder that loyalty to Am Yisrael must outweigh all earthly glory.
Their message still resounds: “Who knows if you were brought to royalty for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
🏛 From Empires to Enlightenment
Through medieval Europe, “Court Jews” were indispensable to Christian monarchs who relied on Jewish intellect and financial skill — men like Don Isaac Abarbanel, who chose exile over betrayal when Spain expelled its Jews, and Maimonides, who served the Egyptian sultan with honor while safeguarding his people’s spirit.
But others fell prey to assimilation. From Hellenized Greeks to Roman collaborators like Josephus, history is littered with Jews who exchanged their birthright for imperial favor.
🇺🇸 America’s Court Jews: From Kissinger to Kushner
In modern times, the archetype reemerged in Washington. Henry Kissinger, once hailed as the architect of “peace,” allowed Israel to be blindsided in the 1973 Yom Kippur War — a strategic betrayal that cost the lives of 2,600 Israeli soldiers. Later, American Jewish envoys like Martin Indyk, Dennis Ross, and Richard Holbrooke followed, balancing U.S. interests against Israel’s survival.
Now, in the Trump era, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have become the new faces of that lineage — globe-trotting dealmakers entrusted with brokering an elusive peace between Israel and Arab regimes still harboring Hamas’s ambitions.
Their mission, critics warn, has “tied Israel’s hands” just as the IDF was poised to crush Hamas once and for all. Reports suggest vast financial entanglements between the Trump circle and Arab sovereign wealth funds — including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — raising ethical alarms about divided loyalties in moments when Israel’s security hangs by a thread.
🛡 The Eternal Test of Loyalty
For two millennia, “Court Jews” operated in exile, their fate intertwined with the whims of foreign rulers. But since 1948, with the rebirth of the State of Israel, Jewish destiny has returned home. No longer a dispersed minority pleading for protection, Israel stands as a sovereign power surrounded by enemies who still dream of its destruction.
Even after peace treaties with Egypt (1979), Jordan (1994), and the Abraham Accords (2020), the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre proved that no diplomatic illusion can substitute for military strength.
Israel’s survival cannot depend on American envoys with business ties to regimes that bankroll terror. It must depend, as it always has, on the unshakable resolve of the Jewish nation — Am Yisrael Chai.
✡️ Moral of the Story
The “Court Jew” may serve many masters, but only one allegiance endures: the eternal covenant between God, the Land of Israel, and the People of Israel. From Joseph to Kushner, each generation is called to choose — between influence and integrity, between political favor and prophetic truth.
History has shown what happens when the scales tip the wrong way.
🕯 Author’s Note:
Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin — educator, historian, and son of Holocaust survivors — reminds us that Jewish destiny is not written in Washington or Riyadh, but in Jerusalem, where the eternal story of Israel continues to unfold.
