Jewish loyalty to rulers was private and business-based, not political

Evidence

The Jews, being an alien element, without much interest in such changes in their environment, were usually the last to become aware of their heightened status. As far as they were concerned, they went on handling private business, and their loyalty remained a personal affair unrelated to political considerations. Loyalty meant honesty; it did not mean taking sides in a conflict or remaining true for political reasons. To buy up provisions, to clothe and feed an army, to lend currency for the hiring of mercenaries, meant simply an interest in the well-being of a business partner. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 104

Categorization

• DEFINE: Arendt is defining the court Jew’s conception of loyalty as commercial-honesty rather than political allegiance — a distinction that matters for how Jewish service would be misread once the state’s nature changed.