If a both a Jew and a non-Jew were drowning in a lake (they do not differ in any other respect), are you obliged to save the Jew?
If all things are indeed equal and there is no option of saving both, then, as is the universal practice among human beings, one cares for his own people first. Is this really any different from the levels of funding provided by the British government, for instance, for the health, safety and education of poor British children when compared to how much that same government provides for Sudanese children? Which children are in greater need? Obviously those from Sudan. But who would fault the British for caring first for their own? The case of two drowning men would seem no different.
More specifically, the Torah forbade us from standing idly by while “your fellow” (“ra’echa”) is, for instance, drowning (see Vayikra 19;16). There is, by deduction, however, no similar prohibition to remain passive for someone who is not in the category of “your fellow”. Th
is is codified in the Rambam’s Mishna Torah in the Laws of the Murderer 4; 11.
I hope this is helpful.
With regards,
Rabbi Boruch Clinton
Ottawa, Canada