[paudio]

he believes the Khazar elite chose Judaism out of political expediency — to remain independent of neighboring Muslim and Christian states. "They embraced Judaism because they wanted to remain neutral, like Switzerland these days

Wow... sometimes history is not kind to those who don't want to take side...

[ChicagoHebrew]

His theory makes little sense. Choosing Judaism meant they had no allies, and many enemies. The Byzantines of the time, in particular, didn't care much for Jews.

Evidence from the Khazars themselves also undercuts the "neutrality" theory. Among other things, they printed coins containing the inscription "There is no God but God, and Moses is his Prophet," clearly mocking the central Islamic declaration of faith. If they were trying to avoid pissing off the Muslims, that was a pretty dumb thing to do.