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Why Joseph in Egypt Was a Great Politician
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
In the Torah, Joseph (Yosef) comes across as a consummate politician. It starts off with the way he deals with his brothers, who have come down to buy grain and do not recognize him. The process of how he toys with them, threatening them, then compromising and threatening them again, seems to be a matter of taking revenge for what they did to him. But on the other hand, he has to be certain that they will now accept his authority in Egypt, given how much they rebelled at the start against what they saw as his arrogance.
The constant tension resolves when he finally breaks down and reveals himself to them — and then reassures them that he’s going to protect them and feed them. He harbors no ill feeling towards them because, as he tells them, this is all part of a Divine plan.
He invites the family to come down to live in Egypt. Yosef presents his brothers to Pharaoh, but in such a way as to make sure that they are neither seen as a threat, nor are they seen as fodder for Pharaoh’s regime. Yosef has already made clear that he wants his family to be living in Goshen, which is to the north of Egypt towards the Nile Delta — distant from the main seats of Egyptian power. This is why he emphasizes to Pharaoh that his brothers are shepherds. He has an agenda which is to avoid the integration of his family into Egyptian life and to make sure that they are not seen as a threat as other migratory tribes, such as the Hapiru, were.
Yosef then carries out the plan he always had in mind of how to deal with the famine. When it hits, he requires people with money to pay for the grain, both to eat and to plant it, in the hope of achieving a harvest. But then when the money runs out, they have to provide him with their livestock. When that runs out, they offer their land, and finally they agree that they will become serfs to Pharaoh, who in exchange will provide them with grain for their labor. They become indentured slaves working the land, giving 1/5 to Pharaoh and keeping 4/5 both for food and for agriculture. To use modern terminology, he nationalizes everything.
At the same time, he moves the population away from their original locations to make sure that they break their ties to their ancestral lands — the sort of policy Assyrians used towards those people it conquered. Thus, he ensured they will not re-constitute and become a threat.
The only people that he doesn’t apply this to are the priests. You might have thought that the ordinary Egyptians would have resented what had happened, losing their freedom. Maybe in due course, this will explain why under a new regime, Yosef was forgotten whether intentionally or not that. At any rate, in the Torah this week, it says that they were very grateful to him for this solution.
The lessons we can learn are applicable today. Politicians trying to enforce rigorous laws that may give rise to opposition, have to calculate who to alienate or not to alienate. Harsh policies might require sweetening but also appealing to self-interest. A politician has to show firmness and determination to do what he or she feels appropriate, and yet at the same time, must try to show a human caring persona to win popular support.
Yosef is an example of a good and effective politician.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Why Joseph in Egypt Was a Great Politician first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
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Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”
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Netanyahu Says Getting Rid of Hamas Chiefs in Qatar Would Remove Main Obstacle to Gaza Deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the US Independence Day reception, known as the annual “Fourth of July” celebration, hosted by Newsmax, in Jerusalem, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that getting rid of Hamas chiefs living in Qatar would remove the main obstacle to releasing all hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
Israel on Tuesday targeted the Hamas leadership in Doha.