Addressing a common talking point on here that modern Israelis are not Jews of the Bible

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1) Ashkenazi Jews, while having absorbed some ancestry from Europe due to a lengthy exile, have still retained the majority of their Israelite ancestry.

2) The paternal lineages are overwhelmingly Middle Eastern, being defined by haplogroups J and E1b being predominant, but also the minor presences of R1b, G, and R1a.

3) When we compared the paternal lineages of Ashkenazim with European host populations and other Middle Eastern populations, the Ashkenazi profile was virtually indistinguishable from the Middle Eastern ones yet completely different from the European ones.

4) Many paternal lineages in Ashkenazim that might look European on the surface are actually Middle Eastern.

5) The maternal lineages in Ashkenazi Jews, while showing a general affinity to European lineages, still show some retention from the Middle East.

6) Other genetic studies (autosomal admixture and proximity) show the Ashkenazi gene pool is roughly 60% Middle Eastern overall, and a genetic closeness to other Jewish populations is clearly observable, along with an adjacency and partial overlap with non-Jewish Levantine populations.

7) Commercial DNA testing such as at AncestryDNA or 23andme can mislead the public into thinking Ashkenazi Jews are genetically European due to the wording and scheming of commercial tests. Thankfully, the companies provide additional information to correct misunderstandings, but it is best they adjusted their presentation.

8) The theory that Jews are significantly (or entirely) descended from the Khazars has been long-debunked.

9) The nature of Ashkenazi Jewish genetic mixture is in many ways comparable to other populations, such as Roma, Mestizos, Metis, or African Americans.

10) Multiple examples presented show how antisemites weaponize public unawareness of DNA to lie and mislead the public about the origins of Ashkenazi Jews, and use double standards to invalidate their identity as a Middle Eastern People.

Regardless of the exact proportions of European vs Middle Eastern DNA they may possess, Ashkenazi Jews are a diaspora population with beginnings in the Middle East, and their identity as a Middle Eastern group is as valid as any other.

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