They probably looked like the people who live in the area around Israel now. Jews from all over the world share some component of Near East ancestry, so look at Syrians, Lebanese, etc. Depending on your viewpoint, some or most of those people are 'white'.

Also, not all Jews are white. Ashkenazi Jews (European Jews) interbred with Europeans, and so tend to be lighter than say, Sephardic Jews, who have been in the Middle East for longer.

That's what the genetics tell us.

There may have been some selection for lighter skin in cold climates (for vitamin D production, and little chance of sunburn or skin cancer for negative selection). However I don't think there's evidence for this, and European admixture accounts for differences in skin tone.

Not to drop a bunch of theory on your head, but no -- it's not useful to think of ancient people being "white" or "nonwhite" because "whitenesss" is a culturally constructed state of being (like all races are). People don't "turn white" due to living in a cool climate, they "turn white" because they're accepted as "white," which has a definition that is extremely dependent on cultural context.

For more reading on this, you may want to check out our FAQ section on race, racism, and slavery..

This is more of an r/askanthropology question since it deals with skin colour.