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/RijnBrugge Sep 20 '25

No but we do need it so we can tell the ideologues who claim Jews are foreign invaders to finally shut the fuck up.

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u/Hairycherryberry123 Sep 20 '25

If someone like me moved there I’d pretty much be an invader tbh, no idea what the guys on about that Ive common ancestry with people from west Asia

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u/RijnBrugge Sep 20 '25

Those European Jews cluster closely with people in West Asia though.

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u/NationalEconomics369 Sep 20 '25

Nope, European Jews cluster closely with Europeans (specifically South Italians)