The King and I

Religious tolerance in our country isn't a political fashion," Moroccans like to say, "it's simply the way we live." André Azoulay illustrates the point. A counselor to King Mohammed VI, he is the only Jew who holds an influential position anywhere in the Arab world. Through history, Moroccan kings and sultans officially "protected" Jews and hired "court Jews" at the palace. But Azoulay, the palace makes clear, is on the payroll as an able patriot, not as a recipient of religious patronage.

Once a radical leftist, he exiled himself to France in the 1960s and made a career as a Paris banker. He spent his off hours promoting Middle East peace, becoming friends with Shimon Peres and other Israeli leaders as well as Palestinians like Issam Sartawi, who was assassinated in 1982 for pursuing secret talks with Israel. In 1991, King Hassan II asked Azoulay to return home to advise him on economic matters. He stayed on after the King's death in 1999.

Azoulay, 60, raised in the Jewish quarter of Essaouira, shuns the "Jewish adviser" tag but says of his unique role, "This is a light that is alive in this part of the world." Will that light eventually shine throughout the Middle East? He has an uncommon perspective. "I am Jewish not only by blood, but by believing in the values of liberty, dignity and identity," he says "If the Palestinian is still fighting for liberty, it means I cannot be free myself. It means I cannot be completely Jewish.