A friend brought this up during conversation. Is it actually true?
No.
Jews were pretty much locked out of political power in all the belligerents. Nor were they among the key decision makers in 1914. The origin of WWI is among the most discussed topics in history and no reputable historian maintains that Jews were responsible. Much of these theories on Jewish responsibility have their origins in various conspiracy type literature that predated WWI such as the forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Hitler furthered this conspiracy by blaming Jews for Germany's defeat and picking up on Weimar-era conspiracy theories that held Jews were responsible for Germany's disadvantageous position.
The idea that "Jews" are a homogeneous bloc controlling the levers of power behind the scenes is not only an absurd assertion, but one that is obscene given that the First World War unleashed a wave of antisemitic violence and discrimination that prefigured the Holocaust.