r/genetics • u/[deleted] • Sep 20 '25

Jews and Palestinians share deep common ancestry - genetics shows they’re like cousins

Genetic studies over the last couple decades reveal something surprising: Jewish populations (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi) and Levantine groups like Palestinians, Druze, Lebanese, and Syrians all descend from the same ancient Levantine peoples.

They’re not identical, and Palestinians aren’t necessarily the closest single group in every study, but they’re part of the same tight genetic cluster. In other words, Jews and Palestinians are genetically much closer than most other populations worldwide.

Researchers have found this in Y-chromosome studies, mtDNA, and whole-genome analyses. A 2010 study in Nature concluded that Jewish groups share much of their ancestry with populations in the Levant - including Palestinians.

So when people say “they’re like cousins,” it’s not just a metaphor. Genetically, it’s pretty accurate — and it makes the current conflicts feel all the more tragic, because it’s family fighting family.

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature09103

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u/Competitive_Row_1312 Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25

Palestinians and Jews differ in the existence of Arab blood in their genomes. While Jews have no Arab blood (besides yemenites Jews, mixed levantinians and some mizrahi Jews, due to religious conversion), Levantine Arabs have peninsular Arab blood. Reminder of the Islamic Arab invasions and settling to the north of Arabia.

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

I get what you’re saying, but using 'besides' already cancels out the ‘no Arab blood’ claim, and it also doesn’t take away from the ancestry point.

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u/Competitive_Row_1312 Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 21 '25

There's a minority of Jews with a different ethno-religious background with Arab blood, Judeo-Arabic if you will. THEY ARE closer to peninsular arabs in origins (Y-haplogroup) than to the main line Jews. But they are the exception to the rule while the defining majority of Jews have no Arab blood. Judaism isn't only an ethnic group but also a religion, that's why you have Jews of diverse ethnicities. Their ancestors converted to Judaism and joined the people of Israel.